Overburdened utilities sometimes reduce their voltage output
to deal with high power demand. Statistics show that the U.S. population
tries to pull an average of 5% more power than utility companies
can provide.
Damage to electrical lines and other factors can also cause utility
brownouts. Locally, equipment that draws massive amounts of power,
such as hair dryers, air conditioners, or laser printers, can cause
momentary brownouts to occur.
Undervoltages are often followed by overvoltages - "spikes or surges"
- that are also damaging to computer components and data.
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