Animal Mitigation - An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

It’s a perfect morning in Connecticut when more than 15,000 homeowners and business lose power. They will be in the dark for several hours while the utility crew identify the cause and repair the damage. In this scenario, it doesn’t take long for the utility to discover the culprit is a squirrel that climbed into a major substation’s critical equipment and caused a short circuit. The blackout affects more than half the town’s customers and damages vital equipment. In addition, the repair is expensive and creates negative public relations for the utility. This is an event that occurs more frequently than one might realize – and an event that often can be avoided through a tried and true engineered solution.