Electricity throughout the town of Canmore was knocked out for two hours Sunday afternoon (July 12) after a squirrel made its way into an AltaLink substation causing a flashover and the subsequent power outage.
AltaLink spokesperson Peter Brodsky said the squirrel made its way into the company’s transmission substation on Elk Run Boulevard just after 1 p.m.
Brodsky said as a result of the flashover caused by the squirrel, two transformers were locked out and that led to the power outage throughout the community.
“Somehow when it comes to squirrels, or other animals, they stretch and they manage to connect two energized portions of the substation and become a conduit for electricity,” he said.
Brodsky said power outages of this nature are not usual, but they are also not unheard of, as birds and rodents can access the open air infrastructure areas. He said AltaLink uses a vinyl covering called a green jacket on the energized portion of its substations, significantly reducing the number of animal related flashovers.
However, Brodsky said Canmore’s substation does not have green jacket coating.
“It allows the animal to be in the area without subjecting itself to the path of electricity,” he said. “This one did not have (coating), but I expect an investigation into this to occur and it may be considered.”
Meanwhile, Alana Antonelli with Fortis said a power outage that occurred on July 6 in Canmore and affected 2,700 customers for two hours that evening was not caused by a squirrel as originally thought, but by a gopher.
“Upon further investigation, we were able to confirm that it was a gopher that managed to dig a hole and gain access underneath a switching cubicle (green box),” she said. “This was an unusual circumstance.”
Antonelli added the company’s operations team looks into any outages related to critters accessing its facilities.
“In instances where we have determined that animals are consistently coming in contact with our facilities, we will cover the piece of equipment to deter access,” she said in an email. “While we cannot predict what animals will do, our system is set up to isolate the problem and restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
FortisAlberta launched an app last week Albertans can download on their smartphones that allows people to report an outage to the electrical distribution company, view current and planned outages and get details right away. The app is available for download on Apple, Android and Windows platforms.
Power outages can also be reported to 310-WIRE and when they do occur, the cause and estimated time of the problem being fixed can be viewed on the company’s outage map online as well as through its Twitter account.
