It’s a squirrelly situation, but it’s something we deal with all the time. Squirrels caused power outages to 16,000 of our customers last year. That’s more than 43 people on average every day left in the dark, thanks to squirrels.
We don’t let these outages drive us nuts; instead, we take proactive measures to prevent them. We install wildlife protection to stop squirrels from climbing on poles or gnawing on our wires. We add a special coating to some of our equipment that makes it hard for the squirrels to climb. And we have special covers on our transformers to prevent electrocution.
Substations are another target of the mischievous squirrel. They find it’s a nice place to build a nest or hide their nuts. We’ve added extra insulation to prevent animals from entering and causing a power outage.
Although squirrels are the most common wildlife pest, they are not alone. Birds, raccoons, snakes and other rodents have all been known to cause power interruptions.