Squirrels Cause Another Power Outage in Lynchburg
Lynchburg, VA - Squirrels have been causing power outages in downtown Lynchburg recently.
On Saturday, parts of downtown were without electricity for roughly three and a half hours.
AEP says there is nothing that will keep 100% of all wildlife out of their substations and critical areas.
The weekend outage originated from Blackwater Station, the same station where squirrels got in and caused two other outages earlier this summer.
AEP says they have tried trimming the vegetation around the power station to try and keep squirrels out. They also say all of their new equipment has ways to protect wildlife from getting too close, and they are working to upgrade the station.
"We're putting more and more insulating protectors on our equipment. All of our new equipment that comes in has the animal protection on it, but of course this is a fairly old station, with lots of wires coming in and out so there are a lot of opportunities for squirrels to make mischief," said Larry Jackson, Manager of External Affairs with AEP.
"Everybody is very upset when the power goes out and when the elevator doesn't work, so we hope that won't happen again soon," said Downtown resident Charlotte Stone.
AEP says there is no guarantee that an outage won't happen again, but they do ask the public to be patient with them and always be sure to report the outage as soon as it happens.
