Power Blinks

Access Energy is dedicated to exceeding members’ and customers’ expectations for safe, reliable, efficient service and environmental responsibility.

Can Power Blinks be a Good Thing?

Power blinks, or momentary power flickers, occur when an obstruction, like a tree limb, animal, or vehicle, comes into contact with a power pole, line or transformer. To minimize the possibility of damage to the utility system or your home, a circuit breaker interrupts the flow of electricity for a fraction of a second. If the object remains on the line, the breaker opens and tries to reclose two more times before the power goes out. At this point, a lineman must be dispatched to remove the obstruction and manually reset the breaker.  Without this feature designed into the system, very brief interruptions would result in outages lasting much longer.