Critters often to blame for power outages
When the power goes out during good weather, the culprit is often an animal such as a squirrel, a bird or a snake. (iStock)
When severe weather strikes, most people are prepared and understanding if the power falters. However, there is another uncontrollable hazard that is frequently to blame for power outages.
Like severe weather, animals are an uncontrollable hazard that sometimes affect power lines and equipment. (Alabama NewsCenter)
Squirrels, snakes and many types of birds are often the sources of outages. Their innate tendencies to nest, chew and roost interrupt power line functions. Even crawling or moving along the lines can cause them to become de-energized.
On June 6, Alabama Power’s Alabama Control Center reported an outage at the Bessemer TS substation when a transformer was taken offline by computer sensors. The culprits: a hungry hawk and his dinner, a snake.
“A section of the substation was tripped offline because the hawk came in contact with a wire inside the substation area, the protective relaying sensed that fault and assumed the substation was in some sort of trouble,” said Jason Autrey, substation team leader. “All of the breakers that protect that particular area of the substation opened in order to protect the equipment (where the hawk landed) from damage. The result was a loss of power to customers on the lines that this transformer feeds.”
A hawk carrying a snake made contact with a wire in a substation area on June 6 in Bessemer, interrupting electrical service for some Alabama Power customers. (iStock)
When the substation protection equipment senses a fault, the system will shut off to minimize damage to transformers, breakers and wires in the air. This prevents the issue from becoming more extensive and inconveniencing customers for long periods.
“All of this system protection occurs instantaneously once the hawk makes contact with the wire,” Autrey said.
Although there was minor damage to the substation’s equipment, Alabama Power Co. employees were able to restore power to all customers in 22 minutes. The next day, a plan was devised to fix the damage and the substation was up and running normally within a few hours.
