In 2012, the third most profitable category of AV was power management. Trailing right behind signal management and control systems, power management is a cash cow for an AV integrator. It’s a no-brainer install — house fires are everyone’s biggest fear when they buy a new home. And, one of the leading causes of house fires is — you guessed it — electrical problems.

Power management has become big business in both the HomeAV and ProAV worlds. Nearly every HomeAV rack and absolutely every rack in a commercial application has both power management and line conditioning to not only prevent electrical problems from affecting your AV gear, but also to theoretically protect it from lightning strikes.

Companies like Monster, SurgeX, Panamax, Furman and a handful of other manufacturers have supplied some of the best power management solutions on the planet. And, all of them include product damage warranties to prove their gear can withstand what they’re promoted to do.

But now, the biggest competitor of all may just now be emerging: The Power Company. Duke Energy just launched a program called StrikeStop that’s marketed to “shield your valuable electronics and appliances from damaging power surges.”

And, it doesn’t stop there. Duke Energy’s marketing materials also take a shot at the aforementioned companies by saying, “Plug-in surge protectors can help. But they have their limits and can fail over time. The solution is whole-house protection that can stop an electrical power surge before it invades your home.”

And, for $1.99 per month (really!), you can cover your entire home against power surges and lightning strikes. It’s installed at your electric meter, and the company claims it stops surges before they run throughout your home. Plus, a Duke Energy installer will do all the work – for free.

For those of you doing ProAV work thinking this doesn’t effect you – not so fast. A Duke Energy rep told me this past week that it will be rolling out a corporate version of this in the next year that covers complete buildings.

The irony of this isn’t lost on me. And, what a great scam. Let’s look at this clearly: The company that provides you the power (the electrical company) is offering to “sell” you something (via a monthly charge) that will protect you from their (the electrical company’s) own problems.

It’s genius! Just not for us.