Bird Causes A Massive LG Power Outage

A bird apparently caused the power outage in La Grange and surrounding areas Friday morning.

The outage was caused by a “flashover” at the LCRA electric substation in La Grange, which supplies power to the City of La Grange and customers of Fayette Electric Cooperative from Nechanitz to Ellinger and Ammannsville.

“Initial indications are the cause of the outage was a piece of wet string brought in by a bird building a nest on an energized component of the substation,” said Clara Tuma, a spokesperson for LCRA. “The string tracked from the energized component to a grounded structure, which caused a flashover. LCRA had crews on the scene within 15 minutes of the outage working quickly and safely to restore power.”

The outage lasted about 39 minutes, from 9:05 to 9:44 a.m. La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn said the entire city was without power during that time. Fayette Electric Cooperative General Manager Gary Don Nietsche said the outage affected 1,747 FEC customers.