PG&E's October shutoff shows what an electric pickup can and cannot do as home backup

What happened in October

PG&E began a Public Safety Power Shutoff on the evening of Wednesday 14 October 2026, ahead of a dry offshore wind event forecast to last until Saturday. Its final scope covered about 88,000 customers in 29 counties, including about 5,500 Medical Baseline customers who rely on powered medical equipment. The largest group was in Calaveras County, with 10,793 customers.^1,2

At the peak, 85,905 customers were without power. Crews recorded gusts of up to 67 mph and found broken equipment and branches touching lines during inspections. By 7.20 pm on Saturday 17 October, PG&E said virtually all customers had been restored. Some areas of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Kern counties were among the last.²

Before the event, a PG&E spokesperson told NBC Bay Area that customers should charge devices including electric vehicles. Madera County officials told residents to fuel vehicles and plan backup for medical equipment. PG&E opened more than 40 Community Resource Centres in 23 counties for device charging, water and Wi-Fi.^3,4,1

PG&E's vehicle-to-home programme is real but tiny

PG&E runs three vehicle-to-everything pilots under California Public Utilities Commission rules: residential, commercial and microgrid. Residential customers are allowed to use an EV to back up their home during an outage. The pilot pays a $2,500 rebate towards bidirectional equipment, or $3,000 in disadvantaged communities, with further payments for interconnection paperwork and the first 250 enrolments.⁵

Uptake has been slow. A CPUC staff summary dated September 2025 shows PG&E aimed for 1,000 residential customers but had three as of 18 June 2025. It cites slow carmaker agreements, the high cost of bidirectional chargers and limited availability of compatible vehicles. The commercial pilot had one customer, Zum's 74-charger electric school bus depot in Oakland.⁵

The eligible list is narrow. In September 2025 it covered 2022 to 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning trucks with Ford's Charge Station Pro and a Sunrun home integration system, and several 2024 and 2025 General Motors models with GM's PowerShift charger. In April 2026 PG&E and Tesla added the Cybertruck with Tesla's Powershare Gateway, offering up to $4,500 towards equipment and interconnection.^5,6

PG&E has not said how many enrolled vehicles, if any, powered homes during the October shutoff. Charjin found no figure in its event updates.²

Charjin's worked example: how long would a truck last?

Ford says the extended-range F-150 Lightning, with a 131 kWh battery, can power an average US home for about three days, assuming 30 kWh a day. That implies about 90 kWh of home supply, with the rest held back. Output is limited to 9.6 kW.⁷

Californian homes use much less than Ford's assumption. The US Energy Information Administration puts average residential use in California at 503 kWh a month in 2024, or about 16.5 kWh a day. On that basis, 90 kWh would last about five and a half days, longer than the roughly three-day October shutoff.^8,7

That average hides wide variation. A home running a well pump, electric heating or air conditioning will use more, and the 9.6 kW limit means not everything can run at once. Every kWh used for the house is also range lost for an evacuation drive, which matters in a wildfire-risk area.⁷

What buyers should check

Charging the car before a shutoff only helps with transport and phone charging unless the house is wired for backup. PG&E's residential pilot requires an eligible vehicle and charger pair, standard 240 V split-phase service, enrolment in its Emergency Load Reduction Program and a qualifying time-of-use rate. The CPUC summary also recommends an electrical assessment before buying equipment.⁵

Buyers of a new truck should note that Ford's site says the F-150 Lightning will no longer be available to order in its current form, with a new extended-range model to follow. Whether that version will offer the same home backup has not been confirmed.⁹