Power surge leaves East St. Paul residents with damaged appliances

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This article was published 05/02/2019 (2673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Hydro said about 3,000 customers in East St. Paul were without electricity for about four hours in the early morning of Jan. 31, after a power surge that also left some people with damage to appliances and electronic equipment.

Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said the outage was reported at 3:35 a.m., and power was restored at 7:46 a.m.

“We’ve had several customers tell us there was a power surge — a brief oversupply of voltage — in the area early Jan. 31,” Owen said Tuesday in an emailed statement.

“The cause was a downed power line touching another line at Gateway (Road) and Pritchard Farm Road, likely related to the frigid weather.”

The temperature dipped to -39.9 C overnight into Jan. 31.

A power surge is sudden oversupply of voltage that lasts a fraction of a second. Typically, the voltage supplied to a home is 120 volts for small appliances, such as radios, and 240 volts for larger appliances, such as stoves and dryers.

Owen said reports are still coming in from customers who experienced damage to electronics or appliances but he did not say what, if any, compensation could be made available.

“Customers who believe a power surge damaged their electronic equipment can contact us at 204-480-5900 or file a claim with their insurance company. We don’t know the number of customers who experienced damage and won’t know until they contact us,” he said.

Owen said Manitoba Hydro recommends using point-of-use surge suppressors. which are connected to a wall outlet, to help protect electronic equipment such as TVs and computers from voltage spikes.

“Surge suppressors generally look like a power bar, but are specifically manufactured to protect equipment from electric issues,” he said, noting the price range is about $40 to $100 for a surge suppressor.

The surge suppressor should be able to handle a minimum of 120 joules without burning out and have an audible or visible alarm to signal when the device is damaged, since surges can destroy the suppressor’s effectiveness.

Owen said the best protection is a combination of a main service surge suppressor, which needs to be installed by a licenced electrician and protects the overall home, and several point-of-use surge suppressors.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca