For Immediate Release

ANOTHER OUTAGE CAUSED BY BALLOONS

ALAMEDA, Calif., Feb. 5, 2003 -Metallic balloons again were the culprits that caused an outage for 3,200 West End Alameda Power & Telecom customers at approximately 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Generally, residents and businesses west of Ninth Street were without power for approximately 11 seconds, just enough time to disconnect computers and cause timing devices to reset. Alameda Point customers were not affected.

Alameda Power & Telecom employees found remnants of the balloons in the lines.

"Carelessness cost the bill payers of Alameda at least several hundred dollars in overtime labor, equipment, and material," according to Marketing Manager, Bill Garvine. "But", he added, "the cost of an outage actually is a secondary concern. Of far greater importance is the potential for severe injury or death resulting from electric shock."

The coating on the balloons is a natural conductor of electricity, and when in contact with electric lines, power outages, damaging power fluctuations, and electrical fires have resulted. Burning lines can fall and cause death or injury.

"People need to be aware of the dangers," said Garvine.