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A sweet slice of reliability: Moms Pie House

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ucked away in the small mountain community of Julian, Calif., Moms Pie House is more than just a bakery—it’s a beloved gathering spot with a sweet, rich history. Anita Nichols, affectionately known as “Mom,” opened the landmark spot on Main Street in 1984. But she says the concept of Moms Pie House had been baking long before that. “Growing up, my mom always baked on Saturdays and she loved baking apple pies when she could get a hold of pippins,” Anita recalls. “Pie-making and home just went together – it was a wonderful, favorite thing." 

With a vision to capture the magic of her mother’s pies, Anita opened the bakery in a 10x20-foot space with just one electric oven. The table up front – visible from the front window – is the original table she started with nearly four decades ago.

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Apples are prepared for pie making.

“Pie making and home just went together - it was a wonderful, favorite thing." 

Initially, Anita put up curtains to hide the pie-making mess from customers but soon realized that people loved watching the process. 

“By that time, people were looking in the window and loving what they saw, so we never put the curtains back up,” she explains. “We could watch people on the sidewalk walking by and following their nose right in the door; it was really fun.” 

Over the years, Moms Pie House expanded into a larger kitchen with cozy booths in a cabin-like seating area, turning the bakery into a bustling hub of activity. And she opened a second location along highway 78. Despite the growth, the bakery remains a family business at its core.

Anita’s children, grandchildren, nieces and extended family all pitch in, especially during peak season, which starts as early as September and ramps up in October, when the bakery sells 700-800 pies on a weekend. Thanksgiving is the busiest time, with thousands of pies flying off the shelves. 

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Customers purchase pie at the checkout counter.

SDG&E provides businesses with peace of mind that they can operate safely without the constant threat of weather-related power outages. 

Keeping the power flowing for small businesses like Moms Pie House, is essential for many communities. SDG&E understands that having reliable electricity is crucial for the bakery’s daily operations. Energy is needed to keep fresh ingredients refrigerated, for baking the pies and for maintaining a cozy, lit atmosphere. The energy SDG&E delivers enables the bakery to produce the high volume of pies needed to meet demand, especially during the busy season – which coincidentally, is also a time of year where hot, dry and windy weather conditions can increase the potential for wildfires in San Diego’s backcountry.

In the past, Anita and other shop owners in Julian braced for a loss of power due to a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). A PSPS is a last resort implemented by California utilities to de-energize overhead power lines to help reduce the risk of wildfire, especially when Santa Ana winds are blowing.

But today, these downtown businesses on Main Street are powered by underground infrastructure, enabling them to remain energized and operate safely even during weather-related PSPS events. The multi-phase strategic undergrounding project – a work in progress over the past few years – also includes other critical facilities in and around Julian, including schools, a pump station and CAL FIRE Julian Fire Station. It's also just one component of a larger wildfire mitigation program developed to keep customers, businesses and homes safe.  

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Baked goods at Moms Pie House
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The Moms Pie House staff poses for a photo.

It’s this kind of good energy that empowers Moms Pie House to reliably be there for customers. 

SDG&E continues to work hard to meet their commitment to the region to provide reliable energy and to maintain an electric system that is resilient to extreme weather threats. Their dedication has been recognized by receiving PA Consulting’s ReliabilityOne® Award for outstanding reliability performance in the West for 18 consecutive years. 

And it’s this kind of good and dependable energy that powers Moms Pie House, so they can be there for their customers a place where memories are made, and where the simple joy of a homemade pie brings people together. 

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Moms Pie House along Main Street in Julian

MOMS PIE HOUSE

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Number
40
Description
years in business
Number
15
+
Description
types of pies on the menu
Number
2
Description
Julian locations serving up delicious pie; on Main Street and highway 78

SDG&E

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Number
1,600
Description
Miles of power lines undergrounded in SDG&E’s service territory
~
Number
60
%
Description
percentage of SDG&E’s power lines that are underground.
Number
18
Description
years SDG&E has received PA Consulting’s ReliabilityOne® award for outstanding reliability performance.