Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Some 20,000 power customers in Huntsville, Alabama, were quite literally left in the dark recently when a large-scale outage hit residences, schools and retail outlets. According to local news sources, the outage was caused by equipment failure, and crews worked diligently to get everyone back on the grid and up & running.

Crews began working on the problem at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 6 and had power restored for everyone by 11:15 a.m. The complete outage lasted just over an hour.

According to social media channels, a high school was affected, including large retail stores from around Weatherly Road south to Hobbs Road, and most of Bailey Cove up to Carl T. Jones in Huntsville.

While there was no discussion of how businesses or other facilities affected weathered the outage, it’s a good reminder that even in the absence of inclement weather, outages can strike at any time and thus, it’s good to have a back-up plan.

While it’s impossible to protect 100 percent from situations like equipment failure from a service provider, individuals and businesses can at least protect their own equipment and systems until power and communication lines are restored. That’s why there are uninterruptible power supplies, or UPS.

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.

Minuteman UPS/Para Systems (News - Alert) is a provider of power protection solutions and offers an array of products, from outlet surge protectors to UPSs, all of which are designed to keep businesses going. While the world won’t ever be free from blackouts, users can at least protect their equipment, saving a bundle in costly damages due to outages in the event of an interruption or total shutdown.