Thousands of Orange County residents were impacted by an overnight power outage on Thursday, which officials believe was caused when a mylar balloon came in contact with a power line. 

They say that this time of year always triggers an increase in similar incidents, especially due to the slew of graduations taking place across the state. 

"We urge customers to handle these balloons property and understand how to dispose of them," said Gabriela Ornelas, a spokesperson with Southern California Edison. "So, by that we mean having them properly secured to a weight, never releasing them outdoors and always remembering to puncture the balloons when they're ready to dispose of them and throw them away in a trash can."

In 2024 alone, mylar balloons, often made of foil or other metallic coatings, triggered power outages over 500 times in Southern California, impacting more than 750,000 residents. 

Long Beach experienced the highest amount of balloon-related outages with 30, followed by Downey at 20 and Santa Ana at 17. 

Instances like this, and the fact that so much of the balloon waste found its way into the ocean, led the city of Laguna Beach to completely ban the sale of all metallic balloons last year. 

Power was fully restored to all impacted by Thursday morning.