8 Common Causes of Power Outages
From digging in your backyard to a hurricane, many factors can lead to the loss of power.
8 Common Causes of Power Outages
From digging in your backyard to a hurricane, many factors can lead to the loss of power.
Southern California Edison is investing $5 billion annually to improve the reliability of the power grid, including battery storage and technological advancements. Even so, power outages are sometimes unavoidable. If you’re wondering why the power may go out at your home, the answer may not be straightforward. Causes of outages can vary and can affect the length of time it takes to restore service to your home. Here are some of the most common:
- Storms and Lightning: Large storms with high winds, heavy rain, ice and snow are the most common causes of widespread power outages. Lightning can accompany storms, but it causes damage in its own way. When lightning strikes electrical equipment, transmission towers, wires and poles, outages can occur.
- Trees : During high winds or trimming by an untrained professional, limbs can make contact with power lines and cause interruptions. Trees can also fall on utility poles, even in perfect weather, causing an outage. If you are concerned about trees located near power lines in your area, contact Southern California Edison.
- Vehicles: A vehicle collision with a utility pole can cause a power outage. However, these accidents usually only affect a small area, making power restoration much more manageable than other causes of outages.
- Earthquakes: Quakes of all sizes can damage electrical facilities and power lines, especially in high-risk states like California.
- Animals: Although we place barriers between wildlife and electricity equipment, squirrels, snakes and other small animals may still cause a short circuit. These animals can chew on a utility pole’s electrical wiring, causing a power interruption.
- Excavation
and Digging: Underground cables can easily be disturbed by digging. Construction
projects or other landscaping efforts can cause an outage if the wires are
accidentally contacted. It’s important to call 811 before any gardening or digging project.
- High Power Demand: During heat waves and other times of unusually high power demand, overburdened cables, transformers and other electrical equipment can melt and fail. This can cause a blackout or a brownout, which occurs when there is a dip in voltage rather than a complete loss of power.
- Metallic Balloons: SCE experienced over 1,100 power outages from metallic, or Mylar, balloons in 2021. Metallic balloons accidentally or purposefully released outdoors can hit a power line, causing explosions, fires and disruptive outages. The safest metallic balloons are tied down with a weight or kept inside.