Mylar balloon blamed for SMUD outage that knocked power out in North Highlands

A power outage Saturday afternoon in northeast Sacramento County that affected more than 12,000 customers was caused by a mylar balloon hitting power lines.

Officials from the Sacramento Municipal Utility District said the outage — which interrupted power in parts of North Highlands, McClellan, Foothill Farms and Carmichael — occurred at 3:18 p.m. More than 1,500 call-in reports from customers came within minutes, the utility’s website said.

Just after 4 p.m., SMUD said crews restored power to nearly all the homes and businesses affected.

What makes some balloons dangerous, power officials say, is the metalized coating using mylar, a material that’s used for everything from space blankets to trading cards. The thin film is highly conductive and makes it excellent conductor of electricity.

When a balloon touches a power line or gets tangled up in substation equipment, it generates a surge of electricity, causing power lines to short-circuit.

This story was originally published July 11, 2020 at 3:40 PM.