Surge Protection Programs
Why should electric utilities offer home surge programs?
It's the right thing to do!
Electric utilities pride themselves on service to the customer. Sometimes doing the right thing takes a little effort but knowing you are doing the right thing makes a difference. A surge program is a natural fit with the electric utility industry, and it's the right thing for your customers.
Homes have lots of electronics.
Modern homes are full of electronics, and surges can kill those electronics. Homeowners are accustomed to using electronics and it impacts them when those electronics aren't working. If you ask a homeowner if they'd like to protect all of their electronics against electrical surges, they will answer, "Yes, but...".
Individual protection is expensive.
Protecting all of the electronics inside today's homes isn't simple and it becomes costly. If a home has only ten devices they want to protect, and a plug-in suppressor costs $10 each, then that's $100 to protect everything. Most people don't want to spend that much and often go without or only protect a few devices.
A common point for all electronics.
Offering homeowners a surge protector at the meter is a great thing to do! The meter area is a common point for all powered electronics in the home. One protector at the meter covers everything inside. And most utilities charge less than $10 a month to install a meter arrester.
Customers love the protection they get- no sizeable out-of-pocket expense for individual protectors and an excellent protection level for all electronics in the home.