Power quality problems come at you from several sources internal, external, natural, and manmade, within your control, beyond your control. They manifest themselves as electrical noise, sags, swells, outages and surges - and the consequences can add up.

Some consequences, thankfully, are barely noticeable - like flickering lights. Others are catastrophic - like "fried" computers. Still others fall somewhere in between - like data errors or electrical components that wear out long before they should. The worst consequence, of course, is substandard customer service - you can replace equipment a lot easier than you can replace clientele or make up for lost revenue. 

At Progress Energy, we continually research and test for more and better power quality so that you see fewer interruptions. When faults occur, our system is designed to "switch." This causes lights to flicker or digital equipment to blink, but restores power instantly with less chance of damage to your equipment and ours. We build many other protective measures right into our utility system for a documented 99.9 percent reliability. Beyond this, the best thing we can do is help you guard against power quality problems unique to your facility by evaluating your needs and recommending the right products and services.

Surge Protection

Many things cause surges - electric motors switching on and off, HVAC, large loads switching, large electronic loads - but the largest source is lightning. Consequently, Progress Energy devotes itself to extensive lightning research, and our experts are uniquely qualified to determine just what you need for surge protection you can feel comfortable with.

We typically recommend a layered approach - heavy-duty protection at the panel where electricity enters the building and plug-in protection at the equipment itself. Many types of equipment, such as copy machines, radio transmitters and satellite TV systems, have special needs. We offer state-of-the-art protection for them all.

Our surge protection products include:

• Electrical service entrance protection, including meter and main panel protection.  
• Sub-panel, or "downstream," protection for dedicated areas such as computer rooms, printing press rooms, etc.  
• Electrical outlet protection, including plug-in devices for specific pieces of equipment.  
• Communication and data protection equipment for modem and telephone lines.