 Two playful squirrels caused power
outages in two states Monday, affecting more than 1,500 customers and
interrupting supply for nearly an hour.
Squirrels
are the leading causes of outages in the United States, next only to
severe weather. Thus, power companies make it a point that these
curious animals either do not come in contact with the lines or have no
way of entering their facilities.
"We kind of liken it to anyone who's had a bird feeder and tried to
keep the squirrels out. They find a way," said Brian Elwood, a
spokesman for Xcel Energy. Xcel, which operates the Wisconsin utility,
restored the service to 177 customers in less than an hour.
The repair crew found the remains of the squirrel that caused the lines to trip.
About
1,400 customers in Ironwood, Michigan, about 64 kilometers from
Ashland, were also left without power on Monday after another squirrel
got into a substation.
A worker at the city's Enterprise Center was stuck in an elevator when the power went out.
Rodney
Johnson, a claustrophobic, thought he could not make it to Thanksgiving
but firefighters were able to get him out just in time.
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