Nearly 4,000 households lost power in Southern California this week. The culprit? A shiny balloon, utility officials say. "We have thousands of these outages every year — it's a big problem," a ...

SHEBOYGAN – With Sheboygan Area School District’s major graduation ceremony scheduled for Sunday and celebratory parties, Father’s Day and the Fourth of July just around the corner, residents might ...

Are those helium-filled foil balloons party necessities or celebration killjoys? As thousands in Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Folsom were making last-minute holiday preparations, metallic balloons ...

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Evergy has warned against decorative metallic Mylar balloons ahead of graduation parties as they pose a threat to electric lines. Evergy has warned Kansans as graduation weekend ...

Each year, spring is a time for celebrations, from Mother’s Day, to school graduations, to the occasional birthday and wedding. These special events often include latex and plastic Mylar balloons to ...

According to PG&E, Fresno County had 12 power outages caused by metallic balloons so far in 2026. Collectively, the outages impacted 2,780 customers and lasted a total of six months. Customers in a ...

Mylar balloons are part of a lot of parties and celebrations, but NV Energy considers them an unwelcome guest. The utility says the helium-filled balloons coated with a metallic finish are one of the ...

The normally diplomatic Southern California Edison talks bluntly about power outages caused by metallic party balloons. “It is a problem that shows no end,” reads a written statement from SCE, the ...

Once again, thousands of people were without power because of a Mylar balloon release. The City Council “banned” Mylar balloon releases. Those are identifiable balloons. Those who cause power outages ...

Helium-filled metallic balloons can pose a serious public safety risk if they are not tied to a weight,” PG&E said in a May 14 news release, drifting into overhead power lines and causing outages. In ...