The holiday season is here, and you’re undoubtedly starting to see more and more homes showcasing their festive cheer with outdoor Christmas lighting. Or perhaps you’ve already begun adorning your home and yard with Christmas decorations and lighting. Maybe you’re bound and determined to create the most mesmerizing display of Christmas lights in your neighborhood by taking after the fictional Clark Griswold in the Movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” by bedecking your home with 250 strands of Christmas lights. If so, how much will your utility company charge you to power 25,000 Christmas lights?

You probably understand that the homeowner is responsible for fixing electrical malfunctions within the home. And you probably know that the power company is responsible for fixing problems with your home’s electrical meter. But what about the other exterior wiring, electrical service mast, and related infrastructure? Is maintaining and repairing it the homeowner’s or power company’s responsibility?

Tallahassee-area residents dodged a major storm bullet in late September, as powerful hurricane Helene swept by the area with only a glancing blow. As noted by one local news source headline, “Ten miles may have saved Tallahassee from Hurricane Helene, utter ruin.” Our area did sustain some damage and power outages, but it pales compared to locations that came under the storm’s direct path. Ditto with October’s Hurricane Milton, which hardly affected the Tallahassee area at all.

According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, electrical hazards kill 400 to 500 Americans and injure thousands more every year. Contact with overhead or downed power lines is a leading cause of these deaths and injuries, and the Foundation notes that the risks are especially acute during storms, which can bring down power lines. Case in point last year, when a Florida power line downed by Hurricane Idalia killed an Alachua County man.

Do you protect your Tallahassee-area home’s appliances and electronic devices with a surge protector? Did you know that electrical power surges are the leading cause of damage to electronic devices and equipment in homes and businesses? Does your home have a whole-house surge protector? Do you know the difference between a power strip and a surge protector?

Hurricane Idalia walloped the Tallahassee region last year with Category three winds, knocking out electrical power to more than 50,000 area households, in some cases, for days. In the wake of those power outages, portable and whole-home backup generator sales boomed, and more Tallahassee-area residents now have emergency generators than ever before.