As the Internet Era continues its breathtaking expansion of technology, American businesses have utilized this new technology to dramatically increase efficiency. Unfortunately, the energy infrastructure powering these amazing advancements is outdated and prone to failure. Power outages can be more devastating than they were in the past. The nation’s businesses have so deeply incorporated the new technologies that power outages, at one time annoying yet manageable inconveniences, have now become serious events capable of costing businesses enormous amounts of money and crippling their operations. Power-generators and telecom providers must respond to the higher vulnerability of customers by upgrading their equipment and protecting it from failure.

Because rebuilding the energy infrastructure will take decades and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, forward-thinking members of the telecom and power industries are always exploring ways to insulate themselves from destructive power outages. The best solutions incorporate strong physical protection of equipment along with a component system capable of information processing, which enables easy reconfiguration and expansion. Fibrebond, a sophisticated, cutting-edge manufacturer of concrete, steel, and hybrid structures for the telecommunications, power, and institutional markets, is the industry leader in providing durable and smart solutions to the problem.

While worn equipment and human error do cause some power outages, the great majority of them are caused by severe weather. Snow, rain, lightning, heat, floods and wind all contribute to the problem. The cost to American households is staggering, in the tens of billions each year. Further, the cost to the power and telecom industries is similarly damaging.

Bruce Josten, spokesman for the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth, says “with today’s high-tech economy, we can’t afford these costly failures.” The Alliance calls for a comprehensive energy plan that will modernize the nation’s aging infrastructure. Says Josten, “we can’t exploit technological advances to grow our new economy with an energy grid and supply system that were built to serve last century’s technologies.” In short, the failings of the energy infrastructure not only cost huge amounts of money, they also impede our society’s ability to fully realize the potential of our technological advancements.

So what can the power and telecom industries do? The power grid will take many years to repair, and severe weather will always be with us in one place or another. The answer is to replace the oldest equipment with modern, resilient equipment, and then protect the equipment in shelters manufactured from the best materials possible.

Using the strictest ISO-based quality system, Fibrebond provides hardy and high-tech equipment shelters that protect power components from temperature fluctuations, severe weather, vandalism and theft. The shelters accommodate technology upgrades and expansion, which allows for increased capacity without installing new cabinets, relocating or dismantling the equipment, renegotiating land leases, or installing new foundations.