Dear Editor:
I live in the south east side of Fergus and have experienced constant brownouts this past year and more recently with the recent heat waves.
This past year I replaced many of our light fixtures and installed Edison LED lights, which have surge protection built into them (they are not cheap but the daylight model look fantastic).
However they are very sensitive to voltage drops, which is what a brownout is and do eventually go to full brightness after a few minutes thanks to the surge protector.
According to research I have done, a brownout is due to two reasons: our hydro infrastructure is inadequate for handling the extra load requirements during heat waves and/or more homes using hydro to charge their electric cars; and our hydro system is purposely reducing the voltage to prevent a total blackout due to an inadequate infrastructure.
In any case, it is advisable to unplug your electronic devices during brownouts until Centre Wellington Hydro can get the infrastructure system upgraded.
Paul Roberts,
Fergus