GE Pittsfield Lightning Research Center (distribution transformer testing)

Historic site of distribution transformer lightning testing; where CSST manufacturers did their belated lightning research starting around 2001. ## Figures referenced in this lecture

The industry acknowledges that by 2001 they knew about this, because they started doing research at the old General Electric Lightning Research Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They used to build electrical distribution transformers for General Electric, and they had to deal with simulated lightning strikes, because it can get really exciting if lightning hits a distribution transformer and all the power goes out. So they have to protect these things from lightning — and I gave you the Ben Franklin article about lightning protection systems. They certainly learned by 2001; there's some evidence they started learning within the first couple of years. If you look at the National Fire Protection Association data, you see in 1998 a big jump in the number of fires due to lightning from fuel gas in homes.