Balloons on Valentine's Day: Handle with Care.Metallic Balloons Released Outdoors Can Cause Power Outages This is a list of famous wide-scale power outages. 1965
ROSEMEAD, Calif. -- Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. (SCE SCE (in Scotland) Scottish Certificate of Education SCE n abbr (= Scottish Certificate of Education) → Schulabschlusszeugnis in Schottland ) is urging everyone who gets a balloon, especially a metallic one, for Valentine's Day Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day Lovers' holiday celebrated on February 14, the feast day of St. Valentine, one of two 3rd-century Roman martyrs of the same name. St. to responsibly handle them as the utility again prepares to handle a rash of entirely preventable power outages caused by what most people regard as a simple gift or decoration. "Unfortunately, we've been plagued in recent years on Valentine's Day with clusters of power outages caused by metallic balloons floating into power lines and electrical equipment," said Ron Ferree, SCE's director of grid operations. "All of these outages could have been prevented if people had simply handled their balloons properly." The number of metallic balloon-caused power outages has risen sharply in California in recent years and spikes alarmingly in February around Valentine's Day. With 37 balloon-caused outages occurring last February, SCE experienced 403 balloon-caused circuit interruptions in 2006. A record 414 service interruptions occurred due to balloons in 2005. Between 2000 and 2006, SCE customers experienced a total of 2,223 balloon-caused outages. Metallic and nonmetallic non·me·tal·lic adj. 1. Not metallic. 2. Chemistry Of, relating to, or being a nonmetal. Adj. 1. balloons can knock out service when they float into power lines. The high-voltage electricity can arc across the balloons, causing a short circuit, which can burn down wire, damage equipment, and interrupt service. "We want everyone to enjoy Valentine's Day, but we also want to recommend that people keep metallic balloons indoors and that they keep them tightly secured if they do take them outdoors," said Ferree. "This very preventable cause of service interruptions affected more than 16,000 of our customers last year on Feb. 13, 14, and 15. With power lines down, traffic signals out, machinery not functioning, and people trapped in elevators, public safety was needlessly compromised." Among the communities suffering balloon-caused interruptions last Valentine's Day were Torrance, Lancaster, East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. , Long Beach, Rialto Rialto, city (1990 pop. 72,388), San Bernardino co., S Calif., a residential suburb of San Bernardino; inc. 1911. The city has greatly expanded as a result of the economic and demographic growth of the southern California area. , Irwindale, Placentia, Carson, and Downey. "Of course, if the power goes out, we'll get the service back as quickly and as safely as possible," said Ferree. "But if customers responsibly handle metallic balloons, it'll help us keep the lights on." SCE recommends these simple safety rules for handling metallic balloons: * Do not attempt to retrieve a balloon--or any foreign object--tangled in power lines. Instead, call SCE at 1-800-611-1911 and report the problem. * Keep metallic balloons indoors, and never release them outside. * Never attach metallic streamers Streamers is a play by David Rabe. The last in his Vietnam War trilogy that began with The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones to any balloon--latex or metallic. * Never bundle metallic balloons together. * Be sure to secure a helium-filled balloon with a weight heavy enough to prevent it from drifting away. (It is unlawful to sell metallic balloons without a string weight.) * Never go near a downed or dangling wire. Keep others away and contact the police or fire department and call SCE at 1-800-611-1911 for assistance. More information on safety and a host of other topics can be found at www.sce.com. A downloadable photo of a metallic balloon near power lines is available at http://www.edison.com/pressroom/image_gallery.asp. An Edison International (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :EIX EIX Electrochemical Ion Exchange EIX European Internet Exchange ) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.7 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California. |
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