Electrical work in San Bernardino County

The utility map is simple

Of the 16 San Bernardino County cities covered on this site, 13 take their power from Southern California Edison alone. Three add a wrinkle:

• Colton Electric Utility, a city utility, serves Colton, so SCE shutoff lists and SCE service rules do not apply there.
• Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility (RCMU) serves a small set of southeast-side properties in Rancho Cucamonga. SCE serves most of the city.
• Apple Valley Choice Energy buys the power in Apple Valley, while SCE delivers it.

For most addresses, the key facts are SCE’s wind program and how long a service upgrade takes. SCE publishes targets for its own steps, the city’s time comes on top, and the whole job takes weeks, so book early.

Shutoffs have happened here

SCE’s wind program has been used in this county in recent years. The pattern is strongest along the foothills.

• October 2019. CBS Los Angeles listed Fontana, Highland, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto, San Bernardino, Upland and Yucaipa as cities SCE was considering for a shutoff, about 41,280 county customers. On October 30, 2019, FOX 11 reported actual shutoffs in Devore Heights, San Bernardino, Etiwanda, Lytle Creek and Rancho Cucamonga.
• January 2025. In SCE’s January 17 to 27 event, 509,245 customers were notified and 152,393 were de-energized across nine counties. SCE opened community resource centers in Fontana and Yucaipa. Separately, SCE shut off power in South Redlands starting January 8, with pockets of North Redlands off, and outages continued through January 10 during Red Flag Warnings. SCE briefed the Redlands City Council on February 18, 2025.
• Rated high. This site rates five cities high: Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Highland, San Bernardino and Yucaipa. San Bernardino and Highland also carry fire memory: the Old Fire began October 25, 2003 near Old Waterman Canyon Road, burned about 91,281 acres and forced evacuations in both cities.

Valley-floor cities such as Montclair, Chino and Ontario were not on the 2019 lists. Chino Hills has no shutoff reported on its circuits, but the State Fire Marshal’s March 2025 update puts more than 20,000 acres of the area in the Very High category, about half of it open space. Read the PSPS guide and the prep checklist. If shutoffs are a concern, compare a generator and a battery.

High desert: wind and heat

Apple Valley, Hesperia and Victorville have hot summers and steady wind. In June 2019, SCE warned about 6,500 high-desert customers in Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia, Palmdale and Lucerne Valley of a possible shutoff, and no power was cut that Friday. County notices describe 40 to 50 mph gusts in Victorville and Apple Valley, and the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory covering Apple and Lucerne Valleys through June 21, 2025.

Housing eras

Median build year runs from 1969 in Montclair to 1994 in Victorville. Homes built before 1970 are 51 percent of Montclair’s stock, 46 percent in San Bernardino and 40 percent in Redlands, and only 8 percent in Chino Hills. Through 1979 the shares rise to 66 percent in Montclair, 60 percent in San Bernardino and 58 percent in Redlands. Colton has 15 percent built before 1950 and 51 percent before 1980. The high-desert and Chino Hills homes were mostly built after 1980 (17 to 28 percent predate 1980), so panel capacity, not wire age, is usually the issue. In San Bernardino, Colton, Montclair and Redlands, expect more original wiring and more of the older panels covered on the panel upgrades page.

The difference between “considered” and “cut off” matters when you read a city’s risk. Upland and Rialto were on the October 2019 CBS list, but Rialto was not on the FOX 11 list of places actually shut off, and the January 2025 event reports name no Upland shutoff. Fontana was on the 2019 list and had a resource center open until January 26, 2025 at 2 p.m. Count a city as exposed to the program, and ask the electrician what the home would need to ride out a multi-day outage.

Local money

As of October 2026, the main program for most of the county is SCE Charge Ready Home. It lists up to $4,200 toward a 200-amp panel and dedicated 240-volt circuit for eligible income-qualified households; check current terms. It needs a licensed C-10 contractor. SCE takes applications while you plan, during the work or up to six months after. The SCE rebate guide explains eligibility. In Colton, the city utility lists an EV charger rebate for commercial customers only (up to $5,000 with a separate utility meter or $2,500 for a standard connection); Colton homeowners should ask the utility whether any residential program is open.