As a result, machines that contain modern, electronic printed circuit boards are very sensitive to power source changes and disturbances. What's more, there are very few electrically based products nowadays which are not controlled by new electronic micro chips and circuit boards. The nature of electric power, on the other hand, has changed very little in the past few decades. Words like surge, spike, transient suppressing, and fluctuations now pepper our everyday language. But for a user of sensitive computer equipment, for example, any one of these electrical abnormalities can cause disaster.
Hard drives can crash from an unexpected voltage surge.
Circuits can be damaged. Process control equipment can go down. The list goes on and on. Another nemesis to modern electronic equipment is lightning strikes. These strikes occur worldwide with staggering frequency.