Squirrel behind power outage?
TORONTO, ONTARIO - A squirrel that crawled into a hydro substation in the downtown core may have caused a power outage at about 11 a.m. September 19.
Toronto Hydro doesn't know if it was the squirrel or a piece of defective equipment that caused a short in the system.
A dead squirrel, apparently electrocuted, was found in the substation at Wellington and John Sts. this morning.
The area west of Yonge St. to Spadina Ave. and from Queen St. south to the lake was affected.
Some businesses and residents lost power and some traffic problems were reported. The power was disrupted for just under two hours.
"Aside from storms, animal contacts do cause a lot of outages," Toronto Hydro spokesperson Tanya Bruckmueller said. "Less in the downtown area," she added. "It's more common on overhead lines in the suburban areas."
Related News
New Program Set to Fight for 'Electricity Future That Works for People and the Planet'
LONDON - The Center for Biological Diversity on Monday rolled out a new program to push back against the nation's community- and wildlife-harming energy system that the climate advocacy group says is based on fossil fuels and a "centralized monopoly on power."
The goal of the new effort, the Energy Justice Program, is to help forge a path towards a just and renewables-based energy future.
"Our broken energy system threatens our climate and our future," said Jean Su, the Energy Justice Program's new director, in a statement. "Utilities were given monopolies to ensure public access to electricity, but these dinosaur corporations are…
