Celebrating National Squirrel Day: Keeping Wildlife Safe and The Lights On

Reliability Roadmap Protects Critters with Animal Mitigation Solutions

JACKSON, Mich., Jan. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy joins the nation in celebrating National Squirrel Day by highlighting our ongoing efforts to protect wildlife while ensuring we keep the lights on in your neighborhood. Though squirrels may be small, their big curiosity can lead to trouble when they explore our substations and equipment, leading to unexpected outages. Annually, about 8% of power outages are caused by wildlife, including squirrels, raccoons, and other animals.

To address this issue, we're working to upgrade our infrastructure to deter wildlife and strengthen the grid as part of our Reliability Roadmap. Since 2012, we've done nearly 600 animal mitigation projects so that today, more than 90% of our substations are fully protected against furry intruders. These enhancements include:

• Gate Foundations: Creating barriers that prevent animals from burrowing under or sneaking through entry points.
  
  
• Polycarbonate Barriers: Durable and transparent shields that block access to critical equipment without harming wildlife.
  
  
• Bushing Guards: A cage-like structure designed to protect breaker and transformer bushings so that animals can't disrupt the equipment.
  
  
• Pole Wraps: Specialized coverings installed on utility poles to prevent climbing and reduce the risk of accidental contact.

"Our goal is to create a win-win for both wildlife and our customers," said Chris Laird, Consumers Energy's vice president of electric distribution. "By proactively installing these mitigation measures, we're preventing outages and ensuring that squirrels, raccoons, and other animals stay safe and away from harm."

Our efforts to adapt with nature and build a smarter and more resilient grid are paying off. We reduced customers' average time without power by over 20 minutes last year. Other tactics in the Reliability Roadmap include infrared cameras, more durable iron poles and even a robotic dog.

Consumers Energy is Michigan's largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity to 6.8 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job number one is to keep the lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable, clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7.  

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to ConsumersEnergy.com.

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SOURCE Consumers Energy