Disconnection Protections During Wildfire Season
Posted on August 18, 2026 by Cassie Allen
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Sadly, this year’s wildfire season is on track to be the worst in Oregon’s history. With millions of acres burned, we all must know our protections to stay connected to life-saving power around an emergency. State regulators have adopted these protections to keep more Oregonians safe during wildfire season.
The reality is that utilities are not always able to keep the lights on during a wildfire. Public safety power shutoffs are a key tool for preventing utility-caused wildfires. But when it is safe to keep power flowing during and after a wildfire emergency, customers have protections from a disconnection for non-payment.
These protections keep our communities safe and healthy in our homes, specific to times surrounding evacuation notices and poor air quality events.
Protections: Disconnections for non-payment are limited during extreme heat and very poor air quality events.
You Need to Call Your Utility to Regain Service in Extreme Weather
Extreme weather protections are available for all customers. If you have been disconnected because of past-due bills ahead of an extreme weather event, you must call your utility company to get gas or power restored during the protected times. Utilities will not reconnect you automatically. Income-qualified customers and medical certificate customers are not required to pay up-front costs to reconnect in these instances.
Wildfire Evacuation Protections
Wildfire protections apply during Level 2 and Level 3 evacuation notices issued in a customer’s area. These protections only apply to all for-profit utilities (PGE, Pacific Power, Idaho Power, NW Natural, Cascade, and Avista).
All Residential Customers:
- No disconnections for 48 hours after wildfire evacuation notices have been lifted.
- No up-front costs for reconnection for anyone who has been disconnected up to seven days before the event. Past due balances and applicable reconnection fees will be applied later.
Protecting Against Wildfires: Public Safety Power Shutoffs
During periods of high wildfire risk, utilities may shut off power to lower the risk of creating or worsening a fire. Shutting off power during fire season is itself a public hazard, which is why Oregon’s electric utilities use this option only as a last resort. Shutoffs can interrupt cell phone service, delay emergency response, and endanger the health of residents. These kinds of outages are particularly hazardous when they coincide with extreme heat waves.
Not all Oregonians are subject to these preventative outages. Only customers in certain high-risk zones will see public safety shutoffs.
The best way to prepare for a public safety power shutoff is to stay informed ahead of time. Customers can sign up to receive alerts from their utility when a power shutoff is coming.
Portland General Electric:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the PGE app for up-to-date alerts.
Pacific Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Pacific Power app for up-to-date alerts.
Idaho Power:
Sign up for text alerts through your account. Download the Idaho Power app to receive real-time alerts.
For more in-depth information on wildfire emergencies and alerts, download the FEMA mobile app to receive details on large-scale wildfires. During an emergency declaration, FEMA updates its app to ensure people have access to up-to-date evacuation information.
We need to keep each other safe and informed during wildfire season. Share these protections with your community to stay safe!
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08/18/26 | 0 Comments | Disconnection Protections During Wildfire Season