Snake in Virgina triggers power outage, leaves 6500 residents in the dark for 2+ hours

Just after midnight on July 1, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, was plunged into darkness as a massive power cut affected approximately 6,500 customers. The culprit? A snake.

Dominion Energy runs the electrical substation and confirmed that a snake had slithered across a crucial piece of equipment and triggered an automatic safety shutdown. In a report on WHSV3, Dominion Energy spokesman Craig Carper explained:

“Snakes, squirrels, birds, sadly some of our wildlife friends don’t know what they’re getting into. Sometimes it can cause problems for them and for us.” 

He also explained that the safety system had acted exactly as intended, preventing the substation from suffering any damage that could have extended the power outage. The status of the snake is unknown, but as Carper said, “sadly”, it seems it did not survive its encounter with high voltage electricity.

But this is far from an unusual situation when it comes to a power outage. Electrical Engineering Portal goes into detail on how “animal-caused outages” are common. This is due to open-air substation designs attracting animals seeking shelter, who then inadvertently bridge two pieces of equipment that aren’t designed to be connected.

Can this be stopped?

Common culprits from the animal world are squirrels, possums, raccoons, crows, frogs, and cats, which innocently enter substations. If they unknowingly move across the wrong area, it can result in what they call “nuisance trips” that only briefly affect the substation, all the way to “complete destruction of large transformers” with repair costs “running into the millions of dollars”.

Snakes are often found to be the source of these outages, as their long, skinny bodies make it far easier for them to inadvertently connect high voltage sources. As the experts say:

Snakes are a major contributor to substation outages. In some areas, snakes are responsible for virtually all substation wildlife outages. Because of their size and climbing ability, snakes can reach most parts of a substation without difficulty.

But it’s not as simple as “snake-proofing” a substation, as this comes with its own consequences:

“Snake-proofing substations can sometimes create problems rather than solving them. Snakes typically enter substations hunting birds and eggs. Eliminating these predators can lead to an increase in the bird population inside the substation boundaries. This bird infestation can then lead to bird-induced problems unless additional measures are taken.”

In other electrical supply news, residents of a California town fear they’re set to lose power as AI data centers are reported to be prioritized over homes, and a mom was left confused why her power wasn’t working, only to be told her extension box was plugged into… itself.