An unusual outage occurred in North Carolina, with roughly 4,500 customers losing power after a snake reached equipment inside a substation.
What happened?
WBTV reported that city officials in Statesville began alerting residents shortly after 2 p.m. on June 7 to a substation problem affecting Statesville Public Power customers.
By a little after 4 p.m., officials said electricity service had been restored.
In an update, the city said the outage was "caused by a snake that came in contact with substation equipment."
As communities grow and more equipment enters wildlife habitats, animals may pass through man-made spaces that are dangerous for them and disruptive to people. In this case, a snake entered the substation, and thousands of customers were affected.
Why does it matter?
Power outages can disrupt air conditioning, refrigeration, internet access, phone charging, and medical equipment, not to mention create stress for families and businesses trying to carry on with a normal weekend.
TCD Picks » EDF Spotlight
💡EDF's Vital Signs newsletter delivers stories about game-changing solutions close to home and around the world
These incidents are not always purely random. Human-built environments can unintentionally attract wildlife; substations generate warmth, provide hiding places, and sit within landscapes reshaped by roads, development, and utility corridors.
That means the snake was acting naturally, but within a system humans placed directly in its path.
Citing American Public Power Association data, WBTV said wildlife interactions are among the leading causes of power outages in the U.S.
Protective barriers and substation design upgrades can help reduce outages while also lowering the risk to animals that wander too close to energized equipment.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
What are people saying?
On WBTV's Facebook post, some residents expressed broader concerns.
"If our power grids can be disrupted by a snake or a squirrel, do you really think we are capable of supporting data centers?" one person wrote.
Another person shared their own experience, writing, "Yep, it happens. I've had an A/C unit taken out twice 'cos of little ants infiltrating the unit and causing the capacitor to short out."
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
