Raccoon shuts down power for 13,000 customers
Outage hits east, south parts of town
After sneaking i nto an MLGW substation, a raccoon climbed more than 28 feet before its high-wire misadventure came to an end, leaving 13,000 Memphis residents without power.
When the creature was electrocuted on a sensitive piece of equipment around 5:20 a.m. Tuesday, it caused the energy substation in the 1700 block of Getwell Road to automatically shut down.
Raccoons use transmission towers and power lines as paths above the city, climbing as high as they can in search of food and safety.
“It is almost like a canopy in the forest,” said Mike Waldrop, a MLGW substation engineer. “They try to keep as high off the ground as possible.”
The raccoon incident left Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division customers in Whitehaven, South Memphis, East Memphis and parts of Hickory Hill in the dark for more than an hour, before the second day of classes started in Shelby County Schools.
“Thankfully it happened so early in the morning. Hopefully, that minimized the effect,” said Glen Thomas, MLGW spokesperson. “It could have been much worse.”
There are two to three animal-related electric outages every year on average in the Memphis region, according to Thomas, but the number fluctu- ates. There were none in 2005 and seven in 2006. Usually the animal comes in contact with sensitive equipment or touches two pieces of equipment, creating a conduit, or “bridge,” of electricity that causes an automatic shutdown. .
Squirrels also occasionally create havoc in the power system because they are the perfect size for a deadly connection.
“It is their length,” Waldrop said. “Something that is 18 to 24 inches makes the perfect bridge.”
In July, the Regional Medical Center at Memphis and the Memphis VA Medical Center relied on emergency generators for a few hours after an outage caused by a squirrel.
Though the animals can cause huge power outages, they are not the biggest threat to the system. According to MLGW, they accounted for fewer than 1 percent of outages in the area this year.
Storm damage, specifically fallen limbs and trees, is the leading cause of MLGW outages, Thomas said.