Power Outage Risks to Urban Electrical Infrastructure from Helium-Filled Metallic Store-Bought Celebratory Balloons That Infiltrate Power Substations

This project initiates the review of a real world event which occurred on February 14, 2012 involving the failure of a power substation due to the impact of a helium balloon. By identifying previous event locations and conducting multiple site visits to these locations, the study will identify five risks to substations and create a map of locations which service major population centers such as San Francisco and Seattle. This study will determine effectiveness of utilizing off the shelf, metallic, celebratory balloons and remote controlled aircraft to purposefully cause substation failures. The primary product of this study will also include a list of prevention mechanisms designed to restrict the entry of the balloons into substations, whether or not the intruding balloons accidentally or intentionally breached the substation boundaries.