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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | MARCH 2025 9 By Clare Mendez, Resident Almost all of us were recently without power for six to thirty- six hours last month due to high winds. As former members of EPAC (the Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee), my husband and I thought we had ourselves well covered, but alas, we dropped the ball on a few things- like not having our cell phones well charged as well as a back-up battery source. We have a small generator to run our refrigerator, but it's not large enough to run for more than 24 hours along with lights. Without household heat we thought we would freeze to death- or at least, I did. Yes, in Southern California, 63 degrees is freezing! We're a bit more prepared today. EPAC has offered lectures, lists, and drills on what to have in your home emergency packs and go-packs. I suggest you attend one or more of the drills when they are offered. For any emergency, whether it's an earthquake, fire, or wind storms, the emergency supplies are basically the same. You can find a list on several web sites. In regards to wind storms, CA Edison has this advice: • Never touch a fallen power line (Duh!), and don't drive through standing water if downed powerlines are in water. Moreover, if you are in a vehicle with a fallen power line on it, stay in the vehicle and call 911. If you must leave the vehicle, exit away from downed power lines and exit by jumping from the vehicle and landing with both feet together. Do not touch the vehicle and ground at the same time. Proceed away from the vehicle by shuffling and not picking up your feet until you are several yards away. (OK, this was new to me.) • Water and electricity don't mix. Do not step in or enter any water that a downed power line may be touching. • Advice from the CDC, if you believe someone has been electrocuted, look, don't touch! e person may still be in contact with the electrical source and touching the person may pass the current through you. It is a bit counterintuitive, but before a flex alert (usually between 4 and 9 pm), when utilities ask customers to turn thermostats to no less than 78 degrees to conserve energy – cool down your home as much as possible and fully charge your electronics and have your go-bags ready. During an outage, it's important to unplug and turn off everything to avoid power surges and potentially spark a fire when power is restored. is includes computers, televisions, and appliances. For people who rely on electric medical equipment or live in high-risk fire areas, CA Edison offers free portable backup batteries. If you rely on battery-powered medical devices, it's also important to let your local emergency service operators and electricity providers know that. By Suzette Strauss, Resident Realtor In case you have not explored the new home offerings available over the last year, you may not be aware of some of the major changes required by our state. We are rightly called the "Golden State" because you almost need a bag o' gold to accommodate these requirements. As new homebuyers, we used to have the choice of a gas range or electric range, a gas water heater or electric water heater. Not so anymore. In 2020, all new builds were required to have solar panels installed, unfortunately, many homes didn't have enough panels to make a significant difference in their electricity bill and the solar companies had to sell them more panels. Guess who won from that deal? Nowadays, the number of panels is generally more appropriate for the square footage. But I would like to see power walls added at no extra cost. en in the Spring of 2024, I learned of a new requirement: all electric homes. As I was showing a buyer property in Menifee, the current owner began to tell us of the delay in the completion of his new home. He said it was almost completed with gas appliances and a gas water heater when the new requirement took effect, and the home had to be refit for all electric appliances and a tankless water heater. is caused a delay in closing escrow for nearly two months. Guess what is coming soon for Californians? In September 2022, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to ban the sale of new natural gas furnaces and water heaters by 2030. During our most recent power outages, I learned of some benefits of gas appliances that I, personally, would never want to give up. ough we had no electricity, we were able to cook on our gas range. Yes, we had to light the burner with our Scripto BBQ lighter, but we had a nice warm meal in our cold house. We also had hot water from our gas water heater for bathing, washing dishes and even doing a bit of laundry in the sink since we were without power for 36 hours. Aer the outage, our furnace malfunctioned, and we would have endured 36 more hours without heat, but I realized that we could still use the gas fireplace to take the chill off. Incidentally, we were told the malfunction was usually caused by a surge aer a power outage and we should get a surge protector for our heating and cooling systems. It's on the top of our list of things to do. So, Gas vs Electric, my experience is that gas still benefits when electricity fails. But I must admit that if my gas were cut off, I do have my electric blanket. And when the electricity fails, I have my Hybrid car. Which do you prefer? Power Outages Gas vs. Electric

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