[en] The electrical equipment failures of both nuclear and nonnuclear public utilities were reviewed. Those failures that could pose an additional problem to surrounding and connected equipment were defined. The literature was searched; utilities, repair shops, and large electrical equipment users were contacted for failure information. The data were reviewed in detail, and failure modes were determined. Sample cascade failures are discussed. The failure rate of electrical equipment in utilities is historically quite low. Nuclear plants record too few failures to be statistically valid, but failures that have been recorded show that good design usually restricts the failure to a single piece of equipment