U.S.
Love Is in the Air, But Foil Balloons Don't Belong There
As Valentine's Day approaches, FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) is reminding customers to handle helium-filled foil balloons safely to keep the energy alive. The metallic coating on foil balloons conducts electricity, and when released outdoors, they can hit power lines or other electrical equipment and cause outages.
About this update from Firstenergy Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"FirstEnergy encourages safe balloon handling to keep the energy alive","length":69,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}},{"type":"text","content":"AKRON, Ohio, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As Valentine's Day approaches, FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) is reminding customers to handle helium-filled foil balloons safely to keep the energy alive. The metallic coating on foil balloons conducts electricity, and when released outdoors, they can hit power lines or other electrical equipment and cause outages.","length":361,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"image","alt":"February is usually the time of year power outages caused by metallic balloons increase. The balloons often accompany popular Valentine's Day gifts like chocolates, flowers and cards.","displaySize":"","headline":null,"caption":"February is usually the time of year power outages caused by metallic balloons increase. The balloons often accompany popular Valentine's Day gifts like chocolates, flowers and cards.","className":"","disableSlideshowImg":false,"size":{"original":{"width":400,"height":221,"url":"https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/d8eef231e46d3514406c1031246c2f25"},"resized":{"url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/K47t7IkVsnWsYuyTWhBbqg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTM5MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/prnewswire.com/d8eef231e46d3514406c1031246c2f25","width":400,"height":221}},"href":"https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2902166/FirstEnergy_Valentines_Day_Ballons.html","hrefExternal":true,"rel":"nofollow"},{"type":"text","content":"While we've seen a decrease in the number of balloon-related outages in recent years, February is usually the time of year outages caused by metallic balloons increase. The balloons often accompany popular Valentine's Day gifts like chocolates, flowers and cards. Last year, foil balloons were to blame for 96 power outages across FirstEnergy's service area, with cupid striking more often in New Jersey:","length":421,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"list","items":[{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"The Illuminating Company – 9 balloon-related outages","length":52,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Ohio Edison – 16 balloon-related outages","length":40,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Toledo Edison – 7 balloon-related outages","length":41,"tagName":"p"}]},{"val":[{"type":"text","content":"Met-Ed – ...