Squirrel Causes Power Outage Affecting Over 6,000 Salt Lake City Residents
By Dani Medina
March 23, 2022
Over 6,000 Salt Lake City residents were without power Wednesday due to a... squirrel?
Wednesday morning, Rocky Mountain Power said on social media it was aware of a power outage affecting 6,136 customers in the Salt Lake City area. The cause of the outage was originally listed as a "substation problem," according to KUTV. It was then updated to say a squirrel got into a circuit breaker device and set it off.
Shortly before 11 a.m., Rocky Mountain Power said service has been restored to its customers affected by the outage "caused by animal interference."
KUTV reported the squirrel has since died.
Updated @ 11:00am: We have restored service to all customers affected by the outage caused by animal interference SLC, UT as of 10:39am. If you are still experiencing an outage after resetting your main breakers, please visit https://t.co/5KJ7zd0MQ1 or text “OUT” to 759677.
— Rocky Mountain Power UT (@RMP_Utah) March 23, 2022
Five Salt Lake City schools were affected by the power outage, but backup generators allowed the schools to proceed as usual. The affected schools were Bonneville Elementary, Clayon Middle, Dilworth Elementary, Highland High and Uintah Elementary.
If you are still experiencing an outage after resetting your main breakers, please visit http://rockymountainpower.net/outage or text “OUT” to 759677.