Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Some 18,000 customers in Duchess and Putnam counties in New York – both residential and business – found themselves in the dark yesterday around 10:00am, when an equipment malfunction caused a power outage.  According to Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which serves about 300,000 customers in the Mid-Hudson River Valley, the malfunction happened at a substation in Wappinger.

Fortunately, Central Hudson was able to react rapidly and says it was able to restore power to most customers within seven minutes, ensuring that the impact for most businesses was very limited in the middle of a busy work day.  Some customers, however, still reported outages three hours later.

There’s no good time for a power outage, but the middle of a business day can be extremely disruptive for businesses, and Central Hudson’s immediate response saved many businesses unnecessary aggravation.

However, even very short-lived outages present a significant risk for businesses that haven’t installed power protection systems.  Outages are often accompanies by surges or spikes in power, which can overload circuits or cause electrical arcs inside equipment, damaging any of the electrical components inside servers, switches, and other technology required for business operations.  Failure of these devices can cause significant downtime and repair or replacement costs, far exceeding any down time due to the actual outage.  Even if equipment doesn’t immediately fail, spikes can still cause damage, weakening circuits and making them more likely to fail with future outages.

The most effective way for businesses to insulate themselves from extended damages due to power outages and fluctuations is to install a power protection system.  These UPS systems provide power to shut down equipment properly in case of an outage – or provide extended runtime, depending on the type of power solution – but will also regulate line voltage to prevent surges and spikes from damaging technology.