Squirrels cause back-to-back power outages at Colorado substation

A single squirrel knocked out power to roughly 4,400 CORE Electric Cooperative customers on Tuesday after it got inside a substation and touched energized equipment, causing a fault that left homes and businesses dark for more than two hours. Town officials initially reported an explosion at the facility, though CORE said no one was on-site at the time to confirm whether one actually occurred. Either way, the squirrel did not survive the encounter, and neither did Castle Rock’s electricity.

You’d think lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same spot, but apparently squirrels do. A second squirrel found its way into the exact same substation on Wednesday and damaged distribution equipment, cutting power to about 1,300 customers for around 40 minutes. Crews found remains at the scene, confirming yet again that the culprit was a rogue rodent. Two squirrels, two days, one substation.

According to CORE Electric Cooperative, wildlife, mostly birds and rodents, is responsible for between 5 and 10 percent of all outages on its system each year. The company says it covers much of its energized equipment to prevent exactly this sort of thing, but that animals keep finding ways into areas that can’t be completely sealed off. It’s a problem utilities across the country deal with constantly, but back-to-back days at the same facility is a special kind of unlucky.

Castle Rock residents can take comfort in knowing their power is back on and, for the moment, at least, the local squirrel population appears to have learned its lesson. Or not. Squirrels aren’t exactly known for their risk-assessment skills. Keep your flashlights handy, Douglas County.