PG&E: Use Caution With Metallic Helium Balloons This Grad Season

NORTH BAY, CA — With graduation season in full swing, Pacific Gas and Electric Company is cautioning schools, graduates and their families to celebrate safely, particularly when it comes to helium-filled metallic balloons. "If your graduation celebration involves helium-filled metallic balloons, make sure they are secured with a weight to prevent them from coming into contact with overhead power lines and causing a public safety risk," said PG&E Spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

In the first five months of 2018, metallic balloons striking electric lines caused 203 power outages in the utility company's service area — a 22-percent increase over the previous year, and the highest number of outages in the past 18 years.

Such power outages can interrupt electric service to critical facilities such as hospitals, schools and traffic lights.

In the North Bay this year, five metallic balloon-related outages occurred in Sonoma County, two in Napa, one in Marin County and one in Solano County.

Contreras said most of the balloon-related outages in North Bay happened around Mother’s Day and last week’s graduation ceremonies.

"... It may take a wayward balloon several days to fly into a line," Contreras said. "The same could be said for kites, although we don’t see it very often. An outage was caused at Lake Berryessa when a kite flew into a line on May 20."

PG&E says it typically sees a spike in the number of outages caused by metallic balloons during the graduation season. Over the first weekend in June, balloons caused outages to 754 customers in the East Bay, 1,281 customers on the Peninsula and 4,286 customers in Santa Maria.

“The mass metallic balloon releases that we typically see around graduation season may look like fun, but they are a serious public safety hazard. If metallic balloons come into contact with overhead lines they can cause a widespread power outage,” said Barry Anderson, Vice President of Electric Distribution at PG&E.

PG&E provided the following balloon safety tips:

• “Look Up and Live!” Use caution and avoid celebrating with metallic balloons near overhead electric lines.
• Make sure helium-filled metallic balloons are securely tied to a weight that is heavy enough to prevent them from floating away. Never remove the weight.
• Keep metallic balloons indoors, when possible. For everyone's safety, never permit metallic balloons to be released outside.

• Do not bundle metallic balloons together.

• Never attempt to retrieve any type of balloon, kite or toy that becomes caught in a power line. Leave it alone, and immediately call PG&E at 800-743-5000 to report the problem.
• Never go near a power line that has fallen to the ground or is dangling in the air. Always assume downed electric lines are energized and extremely dangerous. Stay far away, keep others away and immediately call 911 to alert the police and fire departments.

Photo credit: Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com