IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — A utility company says two crows triggered a power outage in mid-July that knocked out service to about 100,000 customers in three Western states.
Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen told the Post Register newspaper in a Thursday story that an investigation shows the crows touched a capacitor bank — a device that controls voltage — at a substation in southwest Idaho.
Eskelsen said the capacitor bank caught fire, and a separate device that should have rerouted electricity malfunctioned, sending the entire substation offline.
Customers in eastern Idaho, western Wyoming and southern Montana lost power for about three hours.
Rocky Mountain Power said upgrades have been made to the damaged substation.
The company said the crows were vaporized in the incident.