On Monday, December 15, 2014 5:20:21 AM UTC-5, wrote:
In my area, all commercial buildings must have an exterior MAIN breaker,
and it can not be locked. This is so the fire department can shot off
the power quickly if there is a fire or other disaster. While that
makes sense, it causes another problem. It seems there are some idiots
in town that like to go around shutting off the breakers. One local bar
gets their power shut off almost weekly, which not only shuts off all
the lights, but also all the electronics, which include all the video
games, the ATM machine, the tv sets, the juke box, and more. Plus the
refrigeration units. Sonme of these devices need to be completely
rebooted, and if there's a pizza in the pizza oven it's hard to get it
cooked properly after a power outage.

I've heard of other businesses suffering from this too.

Fortunately, someone got caught doing it, and they were arrested. But
there are more than one person, because it still happens.

The bar owner inquired with both an electrician and the fire department,
and was told they can not lock the breaker in any way.

While I'm not connected to any of these businesses, I am aware of the
problem, and know the owner of that bar. He says it's costing him money
everytime the power goes off, because it can take an hour to get some of
the stuff working again, and he has to pay overtime to his employees,
and loses sales, has ruined pizzas, and shuts down the credit card
machine, which is a chore to get working again, and more....

Isn't there something that can be done? Why cant the Fire Dept install
their own lock, and give the owner a key? I decided to post this, to
see if other communities have any sort of solution.

I suggested the bar put a security camera above the breaker, with a
Battery backup on the camera. The owner liked the idea, but said that
would cost money to install, and someone would probably break the
camera.

Around here there are no outside main breakers, the fire department pulls the meter. Its quick and easy