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One Balloon, One Big Blackout: 9,000 Lose Power in San Francisco

Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

One Balloon, One Big Blackout: 9,000 Lose Power in San Francisco

 
May 21, 2015

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  By Steve Anderson, Contributing Writer

Power outages can be caused by the simplest and smallest of things. A squirrel gets into a transformer, a car hits a power pole, even a little too much wind or a stray tree branch. A helium balloon, meanwhile, isn't likely on many people's lists, but a new report from CBS San Francisco shows that one balloon can mean one big blackout in the wrong conditions.


The CBS San Francisco report, based on information from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E (News - Alert)), noted that the outages started around 3:50 p.m. on Monday, May 18, and extended to fully 7,600 customers in the Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach regions. Initial reports suggested around 9,000 customers had lost power, but the number was eventually clarified to 7,600.

Full restoration didn't take long; every customer had power by around 6:20 p.m., according to PG&E reports, and the outage was eventually pinned to one Mylar balloon filled with helium that got away and made contact with power lines. That led to utility officials offering a special note of advice to weight such balloons lest these float off and cause just such a problem. This isn't the first time Mylar balloons have caused such damage, either; Lake Ridge, Virginia, recently saw outages in the face of balloons in the wrong place as well.

If one balloon is enough to kill electrical power for 9,000 people for the better part of an afternoon, it's worth considering ways to protect normal power operations, especially during work hours. Tools like Minuteman's line of power protection systems can help here, providing that last little bit of power required to save data and shut down a computer properly in the midst of a power outage, helping to ensure that that report or spreadsheet or anything else that was “almost done” doesn't end up just plain gone. Whether it's something as simple as an uninterruptible power supply or a complete power generation system, that little extra bit of power can save business and potentially even keep it running through the midst of those outages. Minuteman can offer up something as simple as a surge suppression system to keep non-critical components in line, or step up to complete power systems for phone systems, and even for systems covering an entire enterprise's scope of use.

In the end, it's all about being prepared, even for the little things. A battery backup system can keep an operation running even during a power outage, and keep customers served and happy. No one wants to see a power outage, but these things happen, and being prepared with tools like Minuteman's lineup is just a good example of forward thinking. When one balloon can kill an operation for several hours, businesses need to be ready to respond to that. 




Edited by Rory J. Thompson
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