ST. LOUIS — It’s the time of year when families are celebrating graduations and spring birthdays, and balloons usually make an appearance at those celebrations.
Ameren Illinois is warning people against doing balloon releases because metallic balloons can cause power outages.
Brian Bretsch, Ameren Illinois spokesperson, said the company just had a power outage on Wednesday in Madison County when someone released balloons that floated into a substation, which caused two fuses on the transformer to malfunction.
Ameren Illinois is asking customers to properly dispose of Mylar balloons in an effort to reduce the potential for those kind of power outages.
Mylar balloons are metallic and conduct electricity, which results in surges and shorts that have the ability to knock out power, start fires and cause significant damage to the electric grid, Bretsch said.
In 2019, more than 3,000 customers in Maryville and Collinsville lost power for a few hours when balloons ended up tangled in power lines.
Ameren also said the balloons pose “an unnecessary safety hazard for linemen who have to safely untangle and remove what’s left of the balloons from energized high voltage lines.”
“We realize this is the time of year when everyone is outside celebrating new graduates, newlyweds, birthdays and spring holidays,” said Bretsch. “Keeping the balloons tethered and weighted while in use and then properly puncturing and disposing after the fact can help to ensure they do not get loose and end up in our power lines and substations.”
Bretsch said if you notice a balloon or anything else entangled in an electric infrastructure, never attempt to remove the object yourself, instead call Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 and a crew will be dispatched to handle it.
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