How a snake blacked out nearly 12,000 homes in the US
snake caused a significant power outage in Virginia on Saturday night, affecting approximately 11,700 customers. The outage impacted parts of Kiln Creek, central Newport News, and Christopher Newport University. Dominion Energy reported that the snake entered a high-voltage area and made contact with a transformer.
Dominion Energy crews responded swiftly to the situation. Power was restored to all affected customers within an hour and a half of the initial outage reports. The outage began around 9:15 p.m. with over 6,000 customers affected and was fully resolved by 10:30 p.m.
Unidentified Snake Species
The specific species of the snake responsible for the outage was not identified. However, eastern garter snakes and eastern rat snakes are both native to Virginia. Similar incidents involving snakes causing power outages have occurred elsewhere. For instance, in May, four snake-induced outages were reported near Nashville, Tennessee. In those cases, grey rat snakes were found in substations, short-circuiting the equipment.
Related Incidents in US
This incident highlights an ongoing issue with snakes entering electrical substations and causing disruptions. The quick response by Dominion Energy minimized the impact of the outage, ensuring a prompt restoration of services.
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