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When computers, cash registers and traffic lights go dark, it’s more than just an inconvenience. It’s a public safety issue. 

Business owners and law enforcement say advance notice of the rotating outages would make a difficult affair easier. But utility companies argue that security concerns and a constantly changing power situation make that kind of warning impossible. 

“We don’t announce it in advance for security reasons,” said Ron Low, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. “We don’t want burglars to know where the power’s going to be off and where security alarms are going to be down.” 

A tight power supply sparked two days of rolling blackouts in the northern two-thirds of California last Wednesday and Thursday. 

When the California Independent System Operator decides that such temporary blackouts are necessary, it tells the utility company to reduce its electricity consumption by a certain number of megawatts. It’s up to each utility company to decide where the outages will occur. 

“Supply and demand is such a dynamic situation that we are often waiting until the last minute possible to make that decision, hoping that some additional supply will become available or conservation measures might kick in at the last minute,” ISO spokeswoman Lorie O’Donley said. 

“We’re managing the grid. ... If we’ve got too much demand and we need to offload 500 megawatts, we call them and give them that number. They select the blocks and make that decision.” 

Both PG&E and Southern California Edison say they have plans in place as to whose power goes out next, but neither company releases that information to the public. They also say they get no advance warning from the ISO and when it calls, they usually have less than a half-hour to begin shutting customers down. 

Both say they warn local Offices of Emergency Services, which, in turn, notify police and fire departments that an outage is imminent. 

But Lucien Canton, director of San Francisco’s Office of Emergency Services, says he usually finds out about outages when the public does – after the lights go out. 

“If you could tell me a half-hour or an hour in advance, that would be wonderful,” Canton said, adding that he knows which block is up next for an outage, but he doesn’t know specifically where that block is or when the power there will be shut off. “PG&E has maintained this is proprietary data and they withhold it for security reasons.” 

Canton said his office has repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, pressed the utility to provide earlier warning. 

The system runs a bit more smoothly in Stanislaus County where that region’s PG&E representative has a good working relationship with the OES and notifies them about an hour before an outage. 

“If PG&E calls us and says Block 3’s going out, we can look at a map and see which area of the county is going to be impacted,” said Virginia Madueno with Stanislaus County’s OES. She immediately notifies hospitals, large business owners, police and fire departments. “We’re definitely at an advantage. In San Joaquin County, they don’t have any advance notice. I find that very, very surprising.” 

San Francisco Police spokesman Sherman Ackerson says knowing about an outage an hour or so in advance would make a big difference. 

“Usually there’s so little advance warning that by the time we dispatch officers the blackout happened,” he said. “Traffic signals are the biggest problem. ... We obviously want advance warning. The more advance notice we get the better off we are.” 

PG&E maintains it notifies local Offices of Emergency Management before blackouts and if law enforcement doesn’t get proper notification, it may be a lack of communication elsewhere. 

“The amount of notice depends on the ISO,” Low said. “It’s an hour by hour, minute by minute situation.” 

Not all utilities are keeping their lips locked. Officials at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District on Monday changed their notification policy. Starting Tuesday, the utility will post on its Web site the next neighborhoods in line for blackouts. 

SMUD spokesman Gregg Fishman said customers complained that the outages came without warning. 

“The idea is giving advance notice so people can plan their lives. There are health situations that could be affected by power loss and that outweighs the possible loss of security,” said Fishman, who added that police already canvas areas affected by blackouts. 

The information will not be entirely accurate but will give customers a better idea about the likelihood they will be without power, Fishman said. 

California Steel Industries Inc. in Fontana has been forced to shut down six times since Jan. 1, said spokeswoman Kyle Schulty. In 1986, the company began receiving discounted electricity in exchange for volunteering to be at the top of the list if voluntary outages became necessary. They also agreed to receive just 30 minutes notice of a power interruption — and that’s exactly what they’ve gotten. 

“You can’t just turn a steel plant on and off. ... Anything would be better than a half hour,” Schulty said. “But hindsight is 20-20.”