Raccoon Causes Power Outage

West Penn Power tells WJPA News that a power outage in and around the city of Washington Thursday morning was caused by a raccoon. Reports of power outages around the city and surrounding areas began flooding into the power company around three-thirty. At one point, spokesman Todd Myers says there were nearly five-thousand customers without electricity, the bulk of them in Canton Township. Myers says they have a sub-station right outside of the city and when crews went to investigate, they found a small raccoon had gotten into some of the energized equipment. Myers says in almost all cases where small animals are able to get past their “critter guards” the animals are killed. Except in this case. Myers says it was one lucky racoon, because crews say he was “alive and kicking” and they were able to chase him out of the substation. Myers says most of the power was restored by around five o’clock.  He says they’re planning to repair the substation on Friday, but that should not involve any power outages.