Squirrel Caused 1,950 Customers To Lose Power Thursday Morning

Over 1,900 Tri-County Electric customers were left without power Thursday morning thanks to an unlikely culprit.

External Relations Director Tammy Dixon said a squirrel damaged the corporation’s Moss Substation in Clay County, resulting in a some 2 hour outage.

“Squirrels for some reason like equipment and some reason it seems like summer is worse,” Dixon said. “I don’t if they’re drawn to the heat or exactly what, but unfortunately, animals and electricity do not mix for sure.”

Dixon said power has been restored to all customers impacted. The substation covers Clay County west of the river and a portion of Monroe County, Kentucky.

“It damaged some equipment that caused an outage,” Dixon said.

This marks the second mass outage caused by a squirrel over the past few months. Some 5,500 UCEMC customers were left without power in May. Dixon said animals getting into substations in the summer is pretty common.

“We also have snakes that like to get in and wrap around transformers and birds,” Dixon said.