Power Company Offers ‘Unique’ Explanation Why 19,000 Lost Service

Back in the day, there was a popular song on the radio called "Big Yellow Taxi" One of the lines from that song that has stuck with me through the years is this one " Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?" That quote sums up exactly how most of us feel about electricity.

When it's here things are all fine and wonderful. Our computers are running our phones are charging our smart speakers are speaking but when the power goes out, even if it's just for a short minute or two. We suddenly revert back to the stone age it seems. And naturally, we embrace the disposition of a disgruntled caveman.

Besides the question "When will the lights and air conditioner come back on" the other big question that pops up around an electrical service interruption is this one" What caused the lights to go out". Well as you will see when you read on, electric companies and utilities have no shortage of stories when it comes to "why the power went out".

The Marshall Dekalb Electric Cooperative serves thousands of customers in northern Alabama. Yesterday some 19,000 of their customers found themselves without the modern convenience of electricity for several hours. At first, it was believed the issue with the electricity was caused by a problem with TVA, the main power supplier to the area. But further investigation revealed the true culprit of the service interruption.

That "frazzled" looking rope that you see stretched out across the transmission lines or substation or whatever you call that structure used to be a snake. It's a dead snake now. And if you're wondering, snakes are the animal that is fourth most likely to create an issue with electrical service.

The other three are raccoons which are the third most "popular" choice for causing your lights to go out. Birds caused the second most electrical outages. And, the number one pest as far as your electricity is concerned is the squirrel. That's because they not only get into transformers and substations they also affect the actual powerlines too.

The Marshall Dekalb Electric Cooperative says it was able to restore electrical service to the almost 20,000 customers who lost it in just a matter of hours. The snake's remains were removed from the substation and disposed of properly.