Vulture caused over 6,000 people to lose power in Alamo Ranch area

CPS Energy: Birds, squirrels are No. 1 cause of sudden power outages

SAN ANTONIO – A loud pop followed by a large flash that resulted in more than 6,000 people being without power in the Alamo Ranch area Wednesday night were caused by a vulture that flew into a power line near Loop 1604 and Culebra Road.

In a video sent to KSAT.com, sparks are first seen falling from the damaged power lines but later a large white burst can be seen.

The burst caused a small fire to start on the ground near the access road of Loop 1604.

CPS Energy spokesman Albert Cantu confirmed the power outage that occurred at 6:32 p.m. on Wednesday, sharing that a vulture caused a primary line to phase out and fall to the ground.

Because the primary line came down from its housing, a nearby transformer popped, resulting in the large flash and loud pop, resembling a shotgun bang, that many in the area reported hearing to KSAT.com.

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Cantu said it only took CPS Energy workers about 10 minutes to isolate the issue and divert the power back to 3,028 customers who were affected by the outage. 

By 7:24 p.m., CPS Energy was able to correct the issue and bring power to everyone except three customers.

All power was restored by 8:45 p.m. to all of the affected people Cantu said. 

Cantu said having a vulture fly into power lines is not uncommon for CPS Energy, and that birds and squirrels are the No. 1 cause of sudden power outages.

FOR SAN ANTONIO STORY IDEAS, EMAIL: agarcia@ksat.com 


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