Metallic balloons should be secured or weighted down because they can cause outages and safety hazards
Houston – Feb. 13, 2025 – As Valentine’s Day approaches, CenterPoint Energy urges customers to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from the potential hazards of helium balloons impacting power lines or other electric infrastructure. Valentine’s Day is great for love in the air, not metallic balloons tangled in power lines causing power outages.
“Balloons can be a thoughtful and romantic way to show someone your love, but if left unattended and not weighed down they can also become dangerous quickly if you aren’t careful. Helium balloons, especially those metallic ones, can cause sparks, outages or power interruptions if they come into contact with or get tangled in power lines or other electric utility equipment. Stay safe this Valentine’s Day and help prevent potential outages for you and your neighbors by keeping balloons tied down and away from electric utility equipment,” said Al Payton, CenterPoint Energy Vice President of Safety and Technical Training.
Balloon safety tips from CenterPoint
Customers can follow these tips to stay safe on Valentine’s Day and any time they purchase balloons for a celebration:
- Fly balloons indoors and keep them away from all entrances and exits to prevent them from escaping outside.
- If the balloon comes with a weight, keep it on. If it doesn’t, consider tethering it with a weight.
- Dispose of balloons properly after use by puncturing and deflating them.
- Never tie a helium balloon to a child or anyone else – they might inadvertently cause the balloon to contact a power line or electric utility equipment if they go outside.
- Never attempt to retrieve balloons caught in a power line or electric utility equipment. Call 911 and CenterPoint at 713-207-2222 to report the issue and the company will send a trained service technician to address it safely and as quickly as possible.
For more electric safety tips, customers can visit CenterPointEnergy.com/ElectricSafety.
Important ways to stay connected to CenterPoint
Customers can enroll in the company’s Power Alert Service® to receive outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates via phone call, email or text. Customers can also stay up to date with CenterPoint’s new and improved, cloud-based Outage Tracker, available in English and Spanish, which allows customers to see outages by county, city and zip code.