The subject matter disclosed herein relates to semiconductor power devices, such as silicon carbide (SiC) power devices. In particular, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to shielding regions in the form of channel region extensions for that reduce the electric field present between the well regions of neighboring device cells of a semiconductor device under reverse bias. The disclosed channel region extensions have the same conductivity-type as the channel region and extend outwardly from the channel region and into the JFET region of a first device cell such that a distance between the channel region extension and a region of a neighboring device cell having the same conductivity type is less than or equal to the parallel JFET width. The disclosed shielding regions enable superior performance relative to a conventional stripe device of comparable dimensions, while still providing similar reliability (e.g., long-term, high-temperature stability at reverse bias).