Balloon-caused power outages can shoot arrow into V-Day
Helium-filled, heart-shaped balloons are a great way to express love around Valentine’s Day. And a potential source of chaos.
These endearing, innocuous-looking bags of gas could turn out the lights prematurely on couples during this holiday weekend. FirstEnergy Corp., parent of West Penn Power, advises consumers to avoid releasing foil balloons heavenward because their metallic coating conducts electricity and could cause power outages.
Yes, those endearing, innocuous-looking bags.
“Many people are surprised to learn that stray balloons can cause power outages and other safety issues that impact our power system,” Lisa Rouse, director of outage management at FirstEnergy, said in a prepared statement. “It is important for people to handle them properly so they do not get released into the sky and impact electric service.”
More evidence that 2020 was a miserable year all around: Todd Meyers, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said “rogue foil balloons were to blame for 132 power outages across FirstEnergy’s six-state service area” last year. That, he added, was a 25% increase from 2019.
Over the past three years, he noted, stray balloons have caused about 355 power outages across those six states, including 36 in the West Penn Power region.
West Penn Power, based in Greensburg, serves 720,000 customers in the western half of Pennsylvania. Many of them reside in Fayette County.
Valentine’s balloons are popular, which is why FirstEnergy considers this weekend to be the kickoff to the balloon-related outage “season.” The Akron-based utility said outages peak in June, when more people schedule events outdoors. Drive-by celebrations may have led to a spike in these events last year.
Balloon safety tips aren’t often a priority, but FirstEnergy offered these:
n Avoid celebrating with metallic balloons near overhead electric lines;
n Securely tie them to a weight that is heavy enough to prevent them from heading upward. Do not remove the weight until the balloons are deflated.
n Puncture and deflate metallic balloons once they are no longer in use. They can stay inflated for weeks.
n Don’t try to retrieve a balloon, kite or toy that is caught in a power line. Call FirstEnergy at 888-544-4877 to report the problem.
n Stay far away from a downed or low-hanging power line, then call 911 immediately.