About 10,000 residents in Minneapolis had no electricity yesterday morning, according to Lacey Nygard, a spokesperson for energy provider Xcel. The morning blackout lasted only an hour before the company restored most of the power, but frustrated residents wanted to know what happened. 

Allegedly, a mischievous squirrel (aren’t they all?) was running on the power lines and interfered with some of the equipment, resulting in the power outage. 

Squirrels having run-ins with electrical equipment is a common occurrence, when the transmission lines run through the trees that squirrels climb in. Sometimes the animals cause an electrical short, and end up electrocuted.

Squirrels are responsible for the greatest number of substation outages across the US. The rodents enter the substations looking for shelter and warmth. They also climb on the wires as they jump from tree to tree.

The exact cause, or specific squirrel, in the Minneapolis outage is unknown, as is the condition of the squirrel or squirrels. 

In 2021, a squirrel made the news in Lake Norman, North Carolina, when he was blamed for a power outage that left around 10,000 customers in the dark. (Again, “it wasn’t me.”)

In June 2022, a power outage in Sacramento was caused by a squirrel and tree branch that came into contact with a line.

It’s actually been said that the danger from squirrels upsetting the electrical grid is higher than the danger from cyber attacks.