Fairly frequently one seems local paper reports of the domestic power distribition system suffering from "a surge" and some part of it being destroyed.
The Guardian 28/9/2010 has "...power surge caused by copper thieves that led to power cuts ... some household appliances caught fire while people were still in their beds and unaware of the danger.... "
I can "believe" that transmission line effects might cause a double size voltage for one cycle or so ( ?) of the 50 Hz but would expect that the output of the generators / transformers distribution system, long enough to destroy a household appliance under even no load conditions would be no more than say, 110% of nominal.
Is this all just journalese ?
