North Nashville got an unwelcome visitor Monday night when a snake slithered into a substation and briefly knocked out electricity to thousands of homes across the Bordeaux neighborhood, cutting air conditioning during a brutal heat wave. With temperatures hovering near 90 degrees, even a short blackout felt like a big problem as crews scrambled to bring the lights back.
The trouble started around 9:30 p.m., when residents saw a bright flash and suddenly lost power to lights, air conditioners, and security cameras. Nashville Electric Service crews restored electricity to more than 7,000 customers in about 30 minutes, according to WSMV. Streetlights along Trinity Lane also went dark while the grid hiccup played out.
Even that half hour felt risky in the heat, neighbors said. “Here we go again,” Bordeaux resident Tifinie Capehart told WSMV. Her 10-year-old daughter Ava added that “the only light we really had outside was the moon.” Several residents reported security cameras and other electronics blinking offline as the power cut in and out.
How utilities handle animal intrusions
Nashville Electric Service says its outage page walks customers through how to report problems and stay safe when the power is out, and the utility notes that crews move quickly to isolate and repair wildlife-related faults. For full reporting instructions and safety guidance, NES directs customers to its online resources.
Animal-caused outages are far from rare. Snakes and other critters have a track record of shorting out equipment and tripping circuits, sometimes cutting service to thousands of customers at once. In one Florida case, a snake that slithered into a substation knocked out power to more than 22,000 customers, according to WTXL.
Grid strain during extreme heat
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which supplies power to the region, operates roughly 32,000 megawatts of generation capacity and has documented winter system peaks above 35,000 megawatts during recent cold snaps, according to TVA. Those big numbers sit in the background of local anxiety, especially after January’s Winter Storm Fern, when NES’s storm recovery drew criticism and an outside review delivered nearly 60 recommendations, the Nashville Business Journal reported.
How to report an outage
If your power goes out, NES asks customers to report outages through the online outage map, by texting “OUT” to 637797 or by calling 615-234-0000. The outage page from Nashville Electric Service also offers step-by-step instructions and safety tips.
Households that rely on medical equipment are urged by Nashville Electric Service to enroll in its Critical Referral program, which flags their accounts for extra attention during outages.
Quick work by crews on Monday night kept the snake-caused blackout from turning into a prolonged emergency, but the episode is a pointed reminder that even small and strange events can cause trouble when extreme heat is already putting extra strain on homes and equipment. Neighbors say they will be tracking the outage map, and their air conditioners, closely for the rest of the hot spell.
