Electrical Surge Protection for Fort Worth’s Commercial Buildings: What to Prioritize Before Spring

Spring in North Texas is beautiful, but for commercial property managers, it also comes with a familiar headache: unpredictable power surges. Between lightning storms, utility grid issues, and increased HVAC system usage, spring is prime time for electrical damage if you’re not prepared. That’s why prioritizing electrical surge protection should be a top task on your seasonal maintenance checklist.

This guide helps you understand what causes surges, what’s at risk, and how to set up your facility with the right level of protection. Whether you’re overseeing a medical center, office park, or industrial facility, preventing system downtime and equipment loss starts with planning ahead.

What Is a Power Surge and Why Should You Care?

A power surge is a sudden spike in voltage that can overload or destroy electronic devices and building systems. While small surges often go unnoticed, repeated exposure can gradually weaken your infrastructure. Larger surges, like those caused by lightning or utility switching, can cause immediate equipment failure, data loss, and even fire hazards.

For commercial buildings, that means a single surge could take down an entire HVAC system, shut off lighting, crash your servers, or fry sensitive elevator controls. Without electrical surge protection, recovery can be time-consuming and expensive.

Why Spring Is Surge Season in North Texas

North Texas spring weather is famously volatile. Lightning storms, wind gusts, and rapid temperature swings make power instability common. Add to that the spike in energy demand as buildings switch between heating and cooling, and you’ve got a perfect storm for voltage spikes.

Even if lightning doesn’t strike your building directly, it can hit nearby infrastructure and send surges through utility lines. Grid instability is another growing concern, as unpredictable weather and demand strain the aging electrical grid. Spring is when surge protection matters most, and when you’re least likely to get same-day help during a crisis.

What Equipment Is Most at Risk?

Power surges don’t discriminate, but some systems are more vulnerable than others. These are the high-risk targets in most commercial buildings:

HVAC Equipment: Compressors, variable-speed motors, and control panels are all sensitive to voltage fluctuations. A surge can cause immediate failure or shorten lifespan dramatically.
Elevators and Escalators: Their control systems depend on precision electronics that are highly susceptible to even minor surges.
Lighting and Smart Controls: Surges can damage LED drivers, motion sensors, and automated lighting systems, leading to malfunctions or full replacements.
Computer Servers and Networking Gear: Routers, switches, and data servers can be knocked offline, or permanently damaged, without surge protection for your electrical panel or outlets.
Security Systems: Access control, cameras, and fire alarms all rely on steady power. A surge could disable your building’s safety systems when they’re needed most.

Whole-Building Protection vs Plug-In Surge Strips

You’ve seen those power strips with surge protection at desks or server rooms, but for full-building protection, you need more than that.

Plug-In Commercial Electrical Surge Protectors

These offer limited protection for individual devices. They’re useful at workstations or near copiers but won’t stop a building-wide surge from damaging the systems upstream.

Whole-Building Surge Protective Devices (SPDs)

Installed at your main service panel or subpanels, these devices protect your entire facility. They divert excess voltage safely to the ground before it reaches your critical systems.

If you’re serious about surge protection for electrical panels, SPDs are the way to go. Many commercial buildings need protection at multiple service entry points, especially for multi-tenant or high-load facilities.

A&G’s licensed electricians specialize in surge protection planning for commercial properties across North Texas. From panel-mounted SPDs to grounding audits and custom backup solutions, we’ll build a strategy that protects your building

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How to Inspect Your Existing Surge Protection Setup

Before you install something new, take a moment to inspect what’s already in place. A lot of buildings assume they’re protected, until it’s too late.

Check the Main Panel: Look for installed SPDs and confirm their status lights or indicators are green. If a device is tripped or shows red, it may no longer be functional.
Review Your Subpanels: If your building has multiple wings or tenant spaces, each panel may need its own surge protection.
Look at Equipment-Level Protection: Ensure critical systems, like HVAC, elevators, and IT racks, have localized protection where applicable.
Assess the Age and Specs: SPDs degrade over time and may not meet today’s standards for clamping voltage and response speed. If yours are 5+ years old, it’s time to re-evaluate.

Don’t Overlook Grounding and Bonding

Even the best surge protection devices won’t work if your grounding and bonding are faulty. Proper grounding gives excess voltage a safe path to follow, while bonding ensures consistent voltage levels between electrical systems. Have a licensed electrician verify:

Ground rods are secure and corrosion-free.
Grounding wires meet code and are properly sized.
Bonding is present between systems like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.

This often-overlooked step is essential to making electrical surge protection services truly effective.

Creating a Spring Surge Protection Plan

Waiting until a storm is in the forecast isn’t a plan; it’s a gamble. Instead, use early spring to set your facility up for success. Here’s a basic roadmap:

Step 1: Schedule a Facility Inspection

Work with a commercial electrician to assess existing protections and vulnerabilities. Look at panels, grounding, surge devices, and sensitive systems.

Step 2: Prioritize High-Risk Systems

If your budget is tight, prioritize surge protection for HVAC, data systems, and elevator controls.

Step 3: Plan Upgrades and Installations

Get quotes and schedule service before storm season ramps up. Most installations are quick and minimally disruptive.

Step 4: Train Your Staff

Ensure building engineers and maintenance teams know how to spot surge protection failures and report status changes.

Step 5: Document Everything

Keep a written log of protection devices, service history, and system locations. This helps with warranty claims and future planning.

Make Surge Protection Part of a Larger Maintenance Strategy

Electrical surge protection isn’t something you set and forget. It works best when integrated with your overall commercial electrical maintenance strategy. Alongside surge planning, your spring checklist should include:

Breaker and panel inspections
Infrared scanning for hot spots
Load balancing and meter checks
Generator and battery backup testing

When bundled together, these services give you a full view of your electrical health, and help prevent both surges and outages.

Partner With A&G Services Before the Surges Start

Surge damage is one of the most avoidable causes of commercial equipment failure, and one of the costliest to recover from. The right electrical surge protection setup shields your investment, minimizes downtime, and adds peace of mind heading into the unpredictable spring season.

Let A&G Services tailor a surge protection solution that fits your building’s electrical footprint, risk level, and usage patterns. Keep your systems safe, your tenants happy, and your operations running strong.