Lightning arrester failure causes Boro power outage A portion of Westside Statesboro was without power Tuesday afternoon when a lighting arrester failed, said Excelsior Electric Membership Corporation Manager of Member Services Greg Proctor. No lightning strike was experienced, but the lightning arrester, which transfers voltage from a lighting strike elsewhere to avoid damage and a power surge, failed. This caused an arc that “caused a protective device to burn up,” thus causing the outage, he said.