Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Power outages seldom lead to good things, and for those with sweet teeth, this is probably the worst kind of news to come out of a Calgary power outage: a bakery in the area had to dump every last slice of cake and piece of dessert in the trash, thanks to lack of refrigeration caused by a power failure.

The bakery, located near Calgary Place Apartments, was one of many to experience darkness due to an underground electrical fire. The bakery manager estimates about $5,000 was lost in baked goods, and according to local news sources, customers celebrating Thanksgiving (Canada) had to go without their ordered cakes.

“I had to call all the customers, say, ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t give you the cake.’ Most of them were so nice, they said, ‘It’s not your fault,” said the manager of the bakery to The Calgary Herald.

A similar, yet grander scale scenario played out for The Village Bakery in Lawrence Township, NJ, which had to close its doors indefinitely after the losses of Hurricane Sandy.

“The loss we incurred from Sandy, plus the inability to hire qualified personnel to produce and sell our products over the past eight months drained all our resources. Without the necessary help and funds that we need to accomplish our jobs, it was determined that closing the bakery was our only option,” wrote the owners at the time of closing.

Outages like these stress the importance of protecting your power, which can and should be done as a precautionary measure. Companies of all types should seek uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) devices to provide emergency power when power fails. The most obvious advantage of an uninterruptible power supply is, of course, the maintenance of power.

Aside from maintaining power when necessary, UPS prevents data loss and offers surge protection. The UPS automatically switches to AC-generated battery power, preventing the spike or surge from harming whatever is connected to it. A UPS also prevents power fluctuations.

For businesses like bakeries, having access to data and telephone systems means that owners can contact customers in advance to let them know that power has gone out and that while they may not be able to fulfill the orders on time, it offers them a way to make good on a bad situation.

Minuteman UPS/Para Systems (News - Alert) is a provider of unique and robust power protection solutions and offers an array of products, from outlet surge protectors to UPSs, all of which are designed to keep businesses going, no matter what Mother Nature brings.