What were the worst power outages of 2017

/in , , ,

Electrical Line RepairPower outages can happen anywhere, at just about any time and for just about any reason. Is your critical gear protected by a reliable and long-lasting Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system like those offered by N1 Critical Technologies?

Your expensive and tough-to-replace electronics should be. Power interruptions are a fact of life and are becoming more common as more demand is placed on aging infrastructure. And power outages are really just one of nine power problems that can have damaging effects on your connected equipment.

N1 Critical’s lithium-ion UPS systems offer the longest backup runtime for their size in the industry, easily surpassing competition from older, antiquated lead-acid-based battery backup systems. And as online double-conversion units, they protect against outages and all other power problems, too.

Eaton Power Advantage PartnerOutages are the most noticeable, well known and reported problem. Our friends over at Eaton Corporation (N1 Critical is an Eaton Authorized Power Advantage Reselling Partner) keep track of as many major outages as they can. They even track some of the quirkiest reasons and locations for outages on an annual basis.

The Eaton Blackout Tracker’s history of blackouts in the USA dates from 2009-2017. Download the files from Eaton here:

Significant Outages – 2017

The 10-most significant blackouts in 2017, according to Eaton, were as follows:

  • Hurricane Irma, affecting more than 15 million customers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
  • Oct. 29 blackout in the Northeast throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, affecting 1.5 million customers, some for up to three days.
  • March 8, storms in southeast Michigan pulled down 4,000+ power lines and cut power to more than 1 million.
  • Hurricane Harvey left about 300,000 Texans without power in late August.
  • Nearly 280,000 California customers lost power due to Sonomoa County wildfires on Oct. 11.
  • Power to 9,000 homes and businesses on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, lost power for 8-days when a bridge construction crew cut a transmission cable.
  • More than a foot of snow in Georgia cut power to 365,000 utility customers on Dec. 8.
  • It took more than a week to restore power to 10,000 customers in Memphis after a severe storm May 27.
  • An April  windstorm in Portland, Ore., left 200,000 without power.
  • Wicked storms left 76,000 in Omaha without power June 16. Some were without service for a week.

Unusual Outages – 2017

When we said power outages can happen anywhere and be caused by just about any reason, we meant it. Eaton’s blackout tracker also listed the 10 most unusual reasons and locations for outages in 2017. They were:

  • The Statute of Liberty went dark March 7, likely due to construction work.
  • A bee hive hallowed out a tree, causing it to fall on power lines.
  • A semi hauling chickens had an accident and caused a small blackout and snarled traffic in Delaware Dec. 12.
  • A bear was electrocuted after climbing a power pole and knocking out power in Mountain View, Alaska.
  • A domestic dispute led to a purse being set on fire, which in-turn, lit a tree on fire, which spread the flames to a utility box.
  • A naked man in Topock, Arizona, allegedly broke water pipes near an electrical box, causing a blackout.
  • A hungry hawk landed on top of a utility pole to eat a squirrel, but instead electrocuted itself and the squirrel, causing a blackout and setting fire to the woods nearby.
  • A driver having a coughing fit crashed into a utility pole and knocked out power to 1,300 Michigan customers.
  •  A garbage dumpster being carried by a crane broke loose and landed on power lines, killing power to 5,000 Atlanta customers.
  • The mast of a sailboat hit overhead lines in Grand Haven, Michigan, causing a 75-minute blackout for nearly 2,600 customers.

So you never know when or where a power outage will strike. And keep in mind… A power outage is just one of nine common power problems that impact power quality and availability. In many cases, they occur within a building or facility and are not reported publicly. As a result, power-related problems occur far more frequently than what is shown in Eaton’s Blackout Tracker report.

Protect your gear with N1 Critical’s Lithium-Ion UPS Systems! Shop now or call 855-208-0011.