Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

No, it wasn’t an alien space ship that was hovering over parts of Pennsylvania last week; it was a runaway spy blimp owned by the U.S. Department of Defense. And it apparently took down power lines in Schuylkill County, northwest of Philadelphia.

The unmanned blimp accidentally detached from the Aberdeen (News - Alert) Proving Ground in Maryland last week and was hovering roughly 16,000 feet across several Pennsylvania counties, according to the Associated Press.

F-16s were launched from the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base in New Jersey to track and deal with the blimp. But the blimp got to power lines in Schuylkill County first.

“We’re investigating reports that the blimp damaged power lines in the Bloomsburg area and right now there are about 27,000 customers without power,” Melinda Stump, PPL Spokeswoman, told the Republican Herald at the time.

There isn’t certainty whether the blimp or last week’s bad weather caused the downed power lines, but roughly 2,500 customers were affected in the greater Mahanoy City area and more than 26,000 customers were without power throughout northern Schuylkill County, as well as Columbia and Northumberland counties, according to the Republican Herald.

This should be a reminder to all businesses that uninterrupted power is not something they should take for granted. While major meteorological events can cause havoc, so too can the unexpected—like runaway blimps.

That’s why businesses should ensure they are prepared for the unexpected, both in terms of disaster planning and also backup power solutions. There are few things as critical for business as reliable power, as electricity keeps both the lights on and powers the computers that form the core tools of almost every business.

Even a temporary outage of a few hours can cost lost productivity and potentially damage a business. This is doubly so if the business hosts its own servers, which are particularly sensitive to power fluctuations.

Uninterruptible power supplies such as those developed by Minuteman Power can be a lifesaver when the lights go out, delivering crucial power long enough for businesses to shut down equipment or move needed files to laptops and mobile devices until electrical power is restored.

Few businesses operate without insurance. But unfortunately, many forget about ensuring reliable power to their business.