‘Festive’ balloons caused hourlong power outage in Orangevale, Folsom, SMUD says
SMUD says metallic balloons caused a large power outage Tuesday morning that cut power to about 27,000 customers in parts of Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Folsom for a span of nearly an hour.
About 20,000 customers lost power near Orangevale and Citrus Heights, and an additional 7,000 power in Folsom, just before 9 a.m. and power was fully restored shortly before 10 a.m., according to the outage map on the utility’s website.
SMUD said in a tweet announcing the restoration that the widespread outage was caused “by metallic (Mylar) balloons in high-voltage substation transmission line.
“Thanks for your patience. Please always keep your festive balloons tied down :-),” the utility continued.
It was unclear for what celebratory purpose the balloons may have been used.
This story was originally published December 24, 2019 at 9:23 AM.
