Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Valentine’s Day 2013 is officially a few days old now. Have you gotten your fill of treats and kisses from your sweetie? There may be one thing you also received that could be contributing to the steady rise in power outages across the United States, and it comes tied to a ribbon. If you haven’t gotten enough news on this year’s most loving holiday, then listen up, because this random act has been causing a slow but steady incline of putting you in the dark.

It all comes in the form of balloons. Did you receive one this year? You know, those shiny shaped helium filled bags of love that you love to just let go and watch romantically fly into the sky? Higher and higher it goes until it’s out of sight, or tangled up in a power line. A Cupertino, C.A.-based edition of the local Patch news reported that mylar balloons that fly away typically get tangled on power lines and cause power outages.

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Since 2003, the amount of power outages happening due to balloon entanglement have more than doubled, and as silly as that may seem, it can not only cause general disruption but injury. It seems that despite the consequences, no one wants to pop their balloons after use or deflate them.

One decade ago in 2033, balloon-related power outages were a mere 129, but now, they’re close to 300. The Patch concluded by asking local residents to celebrate the holiday by tying their balloons to something or to keep them in the house or deflated after use, per request by public work crews.

We’ve reported on some very interesting power outage-related news, but this just might take the cake.