Squirrel-caused power outage hits 4,700 in southern Bend

(Update: Last 1,200 have power restored; squirrel confirmed as outage cause)

An outage caused by a squirrel at a Pacific Power substation cut power to more than 4,700 customers for up to four hours Friday morning, a utility spokesman said.

The number of affected customers had dropped to 2,651 by 9 a.m. and 1,211 an hour later, according to Pacific Power’s outage map. The utility estimated the rest of its customers would have power restored by 1 p.m., but spokesman Tom Gauntt said the rest were restored by about 11:30 a.m.

Gauntt said the outage involved a “most unfortunate squirrel” that entered the Cleveland Avenue substation.

Several much smaller outages also were reported, in various parts of Bend, affecting about a dozen customers total.

There have been several large Bend-area outages in recent years caused by squirrels or birds contacting wires or other equipment at substations or in other locations.