Blinking Lights

When your digital lights blink, it probably means our system's protective equipment is operating correctly.

If a short circuit or fault occurs on a power line, the circuit breaker near the fault will momentarily cut off and open back up again. This momentary loss of power used to go unnoticed, but much of today’s electronic equipment – like the digital clock on your microwave or alarm – is more sensitive to short interruptions in power.

Most power interruptions last shorter than a second. They often are caused by tree limbs brushing against power lines, a nearby lightning strike, animals or anything that causes a short circuit in the flow of electricity.

This short circuit puts the circuit breaker into action. It will momentarily close to turn off the flow of electricity and then open to turn it back on again. If the fault is still there after three tries, the circuit breaker will shut off the electricity. This process prevents further damage to the system as it shuts off power to the affected area and isolates the problem until it can be fixed.

You can help prevent the irritation of having to reset clocks after a momentary outage by buying appliances with battery backup. You also may want to consider installing surge protection devices on your sensitive electronics.

It may be irritating to reset those clocks, but it’s also a reassurance that our equipment prevented a longer outage.