SDG&E unveils changes to online outage map

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Tuesday unveiled changes to its online outage map, which allows visitors to see planned outages as well as unplanned ones.

With planned outages, which are scheduled throughout the year for system reliability upgrades, SDG&E notifies customers in advance so they can prepare.

Because planned outages now appear on the online map, it might appear that more outages are happening, “but that isn’t the case,” according to an SDG&E statement.

The utility urged the news media to report only on unplanned outages, “since the customers have already been notified of planned outages and know the time frame that their power will be out.”

For customer safety reasons, the general area of the planned outage is displayed on the outage map, according to SDG&E.