SALISBURY, Md. – Thousands of Delmarva Customers in the Salisbury area were without power for a brief time Wednesday evening after a potato chip bag flew into a substation.
Around 5:30 p.m., roughly 2,600 customers lost power.
According to Delmarva Power, the Mylar material in the potato chip bag caused the equipment failure. According to the company, when foil-coated balloons or materials contact a power line or other electric equipment, their metallic properties can cause a surge of electricity that can impede equipment.
Power was restored to most customers by 7:15 pm. Delmarva Power Communications Director Jake Sneeden says it is not uncommon for Mylar materials to cause these outages but he has never heard of an outage caused by a potato chip bag.
