Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

It’s been a challenging half-year after hurricane tore through Puerto Rico and shredded its power infrastructure.  Today, more than 15 percent of the country remains without power.  The situation wasn’t helped this week, when two of main power plants in the country were shut down to resolve electrical issues and protect the system from further damage.  This was just a few weeks after a substation fire caused two power facilities to go offline, blacking out some areas for two days.

It’s challenging enough for the country to rebound after a devastating event like Maria.  Ongoing power issues only add to the difficulties, especially considering the potential for damage to business equipment as power outages and spikes occur, overloading lines and breaking fragile circuitry. 

As businesses try to rebuild, whether in Puerto Rico or in any area destroyed by the natural disaster, many have to install entirely new infrastructure.  As they go through the process, they would be remiss to overlook power protection systems.  While it’s certainly an additional cost, ongoing power issues such as in Puerto Rico, or merely the threat of future surges and outages anywhere, warrant an investment in systems for regulate voltage and create a barrier between the power grid and expensive equipment.

The last thing a business looking to revive its operations needs is damage to its systems from having ignored the potential for damage due to power fluctuations.  Whether it’s high winds like the northeastern part of the U.S. has been experiencing, flooding due to heavy rains, recurring power infrastructure issues as regions recover from disasters, or simply “normal” spikes due to any number of issues, sensitive circuitry in equipment is susceptible to damage and should be protected.

UPS systems can be designed and installed in many configurations ­– for short-term to long-term backup and protection – and should be on the “must do” list for any business, particularly as they go through a rebuilding process.  To have that work derailed due to a lack of understanding of electrical systems would be an error in judgment.