When power is provided through a USB-C cable from a source device to a sink device, a sudden connection or disconnection of the cable between the two devices may cause a sudden power surge or power drop in at least one of those devices, leading to other problems. To avoid this sudden event from causing potential damage or disruption to one of the devices, in some embodiments a CC pin in the cable is used to announce the impending connection/disconnection, and the device may throttle back its power consumption before power is actually applied to or removed from the power pins.