Could surge protectors be the cause of red rings on your Xbox 360?

It was but a few days ago when Peter Moore apologized to Xbox 360 owners around the world for the notorious 'red ring of death' epidemic and extended the warranty on all consoles to three years. That was a classy move indeed, but a possible cause of the error has been hypothesized and reported by GamePolitics.com that makes the shoddy manufacture of Microsoft's console all the more shameful. There are theories flying around that surge protectors may very well be the cause of all the trouble. Widely used and innocent surge protectors, the bane of Microsoft? It would seem to be the case.

Microsoft reps have apparently been informing unlucky gamers that surge protectors may lie at the heart of their consoles' collective deaths. It's being said that the 360 can't handle power reductions and changes to the electrical supply result in its weak point being attacked for massive damage. As you may have guessed, this is the exact scenario that surge protectors can trigger and, according to GP's report, as many as 90% of all slaughtered consoles have been plugged into one. 

There are more than a few of us in the Destructoid community who have watched their machines perish, sometimes on multiple occassions. Who among us has had their console plugged into a surge protector, with or without issue? This is pretty damning stuff if it's true, that such a common appliance could equal the breakage of an expensive games console. Moore must be thankful he can just shout "THREE YEAR WARRANTY," in our faces and run away laughing. Prevention would have been better than cure though, yes?