Metallic Balloons Fast Facts
1) Did you know that metallic balloons (mylar) are not made in
California at all? Not a single job is lost in California since these
balloons are simply not manufactured here.
2) California is home to numerous businesses that sell or distribute
metallic balloons, along with a variety of other balloons, some that
are not even made from electrically conductive material.
These sellers and distributors are provided an entire year to sell, or
swap their existing metallic balloon inventory with safer balloon
alternatives that do not cause acute and sudden power outages.
3) Of the six members of The Balloon Council, one member is from
California, “Controlled Plastics” they make counterweights, and not a
single balloon is made by them.
4) AB 2709 still allows electrically conductive balloons so long as they
are not designed to float away in the air. This means makers of
balloons just need to get a little creative, and they can still sell bright
shiny balloons (just not ones that can float away into the sky).
5) Last year, balloons made with electrically conductive material
caused over 1,800 outages to the five largest utilities in California.
6) Since 2011, metallic balloons have been the cause of over 7,000
power outages amongst the five largest utilities.
7) Anyone telling you “These balloons don’t cause outages in other
states is just plain wrong (see next page)
Mylar Balloon outage from across the USA:
1) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 22, 2016, 8:00 p.m., mylar balloon knocks out power to 1,500 customers.
http://www.cbs58.com/story/31797169/balloon-causes-power-outage-in-west-milwaukee
2) Idaho Falls, Idaho, April 12, 2016, 1,200 customer without power after a mylar balloon outage.
http://www.localnews8.com/news/Power-outage-to-1-200-customers-caused-by-balloons/38993198
3) Eugene, Oregon, April 6, 2016, mylar balloons caused 4 hour power outage damaging substation.
http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/34239791-75/balloon-foils-eweb-substation-causing-four-hour-power-outage.html.csp
4) Brooklyn, New York, April 3, 2016, power outage caused by mylar balloons.
http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2016/15/bn-gravesend-power-grid-inspections-2016-04-08-bk.html
5) Athens, Oregon, March 15, 2016, 30 minute outage caused by mylar balloon.
http://www.kptv.com/story/31478368/balloon-sparks-power-outage-in-athens
6) Canton, Ohio, February, 2016 mylar outage.
http://www.cantondailyledger.com/article/20160216/NEWS/160219605
7) Florida, early January, 2016, 336 people lose power from a mylar outage
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/01/06/Runaway-balloon-blamed-for-Florida-poweroutage/2891452092456/
8) New Orleans, Louisiana, mylar balloon outage disrupts power to the water treatment plant, cautioning an
advisory to boil water first before drinking. http://neworleans.suntimes.com/nola-news/7/126/280443/entergyballoons-caused-power-outage-initiating-boil-advisory
9) Lexington, Virginia, November 19, 2015, police reported mylar balloons exploding causing power outage.
http://lexington.wickedlocal.com/article/20151119/NEWS/151115066
10) Statin Island New York May 2015, 110 customers lost power and a power line dropped.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/balloons_hit_power_lines_on_ba.html
11) Seaside Oregon outage July 8, 2015 affecting 8,000 customers.
http://legacy.kgw.com/story/news/local/north-coast/2015/07/04/power-outage-seaside/29722803/
12) Chicago, Illinois, May 2015, fifth power outage by a mylar balloon reported that month.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-17/news/ct-talk-mylar-balloon-power-outage0520100517_1_power-line-mylar-balloon-outages
13) Outage in Tonawanda New York that resulted in intersections being knocked out.
http://wivb.com/2014/06/17/mylar-balloon-causes-power-outage-in-north-tonawanda/
14) City of Seattle, March 3, 2014, mylar balloons involved during a power outage to 7,000 customers.
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/03/power-outage-hits-seattles-capitol-hill-neighborhood-overnight/
15) Syracuse New York night-time outage witnessed by policeman
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/01/balloon_that_goes_bang_after_i.html
16) 2 hour outage Bloomfield New Jersey http://patch.com/new-jersey/bloomfield/bloomfield-mylar-balloons-hitwires-cause-power-outage-0
17) Arizona Public Service with safety tips against mylar balloons citing 50 outages from 2014 disrupting power to
40,000 customers. http://kjzz.org/content/143197/aps-mylar-balloons-can-cause-power-outages
18) Las Cruces New Mexico, mylar balloons cause power outage to 5,000 customers
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/3/saturday-night-power-outage-in-las-cruces-caused-b/
19) January 2012, 12,000 without power in Las Vegas due to Mylar balloon
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/nv-energy-mylar-balloon-caused-las-vegas-power-outage
20) Boston, Massachusetts, mylar balloon outage affecting the nightly news crew.
http://www.whdh.com/story/24457762/balloon-caused-quick-power-blink-across-boston-area