Raccoon causes power outage

For the second time in less than two years, a raccoon wreaked havoc on Albany’s electrical substation, causing much of Shackelford County to be without power for about four hours.

At about 2:45 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 3, Rocky Parsons and other local AEP employees were called out when electric service failed.

The outage covered almost all of the county, with the exception of the southeast corner that includes Moran.

Parsons discovered that a raccoon had gotten into a transformer at the substation below what is commonly known as “High School Hill,” blowing the 69kVA transmission fuse that weighs approximately 100 pounds.

Because there were several dozen steps required to replace parts and switch the power back on, electrical service to the area was off for about four hours.

Similar incidents involving raccoons occurred at the Albany substation as recently as March 2017 and March 2014.