Jennifer Ocampo has been a Southern California Edison access and functional needs supervisor for two years. She is part of an SCE team that works to provide critical services to individuals with disabilities and medical conditions, those requiring assistive technologies and customers with financial needs — to prepare for Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) and other potential emergencies.

For Ocampo, the job is personal.

“Being a mom with a child with global developmental delays who is reliant on assistive technology for communication, I know how important it is to be prepared,” Ocampo said. “I want to make sure we empower our customers to be resilient and support them to have a plan in place in case of power outages and other emergencies.”

Late October saw the arrival of several weather systems to the Southland. One brought strong, gusting winds to parts of the Eastern Sierras and then moved into areas of Southern California frequently impacted by Santa Ana winds. The combination of those winds, dry vegetation and low humidity created the potential for catastrophic wildfires.

SCE activated its dedicated Incident Management Team and notified nearly 60,000 customers of possible PSPS that could be needed to reduce the chance of a wildfire in the affected areas.

“For our team of customer care staff, that means jumping into action to provide support for customers who could be at risk during PSPS, including our customers with access and functional needs, who often rely on assistive technologies in their daily lives,” said Valarie Hernandez, who is responsible for managing customer care efforts at SCE.

Her team was activated for six days working around the clock. Access and functional needs supervisors teamed with SCE field staff, community-based organizations and service providers such as 211 to support customers facing outages. Local first responders and public safety entities were also notified in the affected areas.

Ocampo led the daily briefings to keep stakeholders and service providers informed of the latest developments and worked to ensure that customers with access and functional needs were ready for potential power outages, including working with partnering organizations to address customer needs.

“My inspiration, every day, is my little one, and it makes me happy to know the work I do supports our customers and families, who would be most affected by outages,” Ocampo said.

During the weather event, customers in several affected areas experienced wind gusts in the 60-70 mph range. Still, fortunately, the worst of the winds did not coincide with the driest ground conditions for a PSPS, and it was ultimately unnecessary to turn off power to any customers. As the end of the year approaches, communities continue to face the threat of dangerous wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds and long-term drought conditions.

Customers with access and functional needs can rest assured that motivated SCE employees like Ocampo will work hard on their behalf.

“I am grateful that my role gives me the opportunity to help,” she said.

Customers can find additional information regarding available programs and support by visiting sce.com/AFN.