Encinitas, Glendale, Hermosa Beach and now Laguna Beach have something in common that could help remove something not so special from the air and San Bernardino and Riverside Counties will soon follow.
All four cities have banned the sale of problematic-when-released metallic balloons, with Laguna Beach on Jan. 1 joining the bans approved in 2020 by Glendale and Hermosa Beach and 2022 in Encinitas.
With a total statewide ban on balloons made of electrically conductive material coming in 2031, every little bit helps to stem an unending problem that litters, endangers animals and leads to thousands of power outages statewide. More ominous are the public safety threats when the released and highly conductive balloons float into electrical lines and equipment. Southern California Edison alone experienced 582 such incidents last year.
“The bans are welcomed because they will help protect residents and businesses from unnecessary hazards and outages,” said Ted Gribble, senior manager of Enterprise Risk Management & Public Safety at SCE. “But what is just as welcomed is for those still buying and selling the balloons to handle them responsibly by ensuring they are always attached to a weight and never released outdoors.”
Releases can lead to explosions when the balloons land in electrical equipment, seriously threatening safety and property when they bring down power lines, which for SCE occurred 58 times last year.
SCE reminds its customers never to approach downed lines, stay at least 100 feet away and call 911 to report the emergency. And, if you see balloons in power lines, call 911 or SCE at 1-800-611-1911 to report it.
However, the most pervasive problem caused by adrift metallic balloons is the disruptive, preventable power outages. Last year, SCE’s balloon-related outages decreased by 28% from 2022. Still, 800,397 SCE customers were impacted by 582 separate outages. Long Beach was the most affected city, with 30 outages impacting 42,829 customers, followed by Santa Ana, with 15 outages impacting 24,386 customers.
Besides Valentine’s Day and birthdays, another contributor is the often well-intended but very hazardous mass balloon releases for events like graduations or memorials, such as this one in January that was directly beneath power lines near Boyle Heights. Balloons should never be released outdoors for any reason, but this release was especially hazardous and could have easily resulted in injuries or worse.
Due to the hazards, the 2031 statewide ban can’t come soon enough. In the meantime, the bans in Encinitas, Hermosa Beach, Glendale and now Laguna Beach should help reduce environmental impacts and improve safety and reliability for Southern Californians. As a leader of the Surfrider Foundation, a balloon ban advocate, told KPBS-FM: “One city down, 17 more to go,” citing Encinitas’ ban and San Diego County’s 18 cities.
Until then, however, SCE reiterates a simple but vital approach.
“The safest metallic balloons are tied to a weight, something sturdy or simply kept indoors,” said Gribble. “They should never be released into the air where they can quickly become a major safety hazard.”
Additional Metallic Balloon Safety Tips
· Make sure they are weighed down: Stores and vendors should only sell properly weighted balloons.
· Never try to retrieve balloons tangled in electrical equipment. Call 911 instead.
· Puncture balloons before disposing of them.
For more safety information, visit sce.com/safety.