Raccoon cuts power for 2,806

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A raccoon’s misstep shut down service to 2,806 Entergy meters in the Porters Chapel and Oak Park area and led to a chilly night for hundreds of people who remained without electricity through this morning.

The situation was more severe for the raccoon that climbed onto a transformer and touched some of the “bushings” or connection points between the transformer and the wiring at the Porters Chapel substation at 9:03 p.m. Monday. The animal was killed, Entergy spokesman Don Arnold said.

Service was restored to most of the connections in east central portions of the city, extending through Oak Park subdivision and up U.S. 61 North, but 406 customers of Entergy remained without power this morning. The overnight low was 27 degrees.

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It was the second time in less than a week a raccoon came in contact with a bushing, Arnold said. An outage that put 1,220 out of power Thursday originally blamed on equipment failure also was caused by a raccoon.

Substation designs are engineered to keep small animals out, but sometimes raccoons and squirrels find their way through or around barriers. A conference call was planned today to come up with ideas to keep wildlife away from transformers and wiring, Arnold said.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.