In a quaint coastal town in California, the serene summer months have been disrupted by unusual power outages. Surprisingly, these electricity woes are attributable to a feathered troublemaker.
Wild turkeys have ruffled feathers in Cambria, causing havoc by repeatedly cutting off electricity. Since mid-July, both locals and businesses have been wrestling with brief but recurring power blackouts.
These power cuts tend to hit during daylight, usually lasting about an hour, and can occur twice daily or over consecutive days, The Tribune reported. The outages have thrown morning routines into chaos, from preparing for the workday to brewing coffee, and even affected the operation of critical medical equipment.
Businesses have not been spared the inconvenience; restaurant staff have had their workflow disrupted just as they start food prep and get ready to welcome diners.
Residents turned to social media to seek explanations, prompting an initial response from PG&E. The energy company suggested that the outages were caused by “an animal contacting the powerline” during these incidents.
The utility later confirmed to the Tribune that six outages in the area since July were caused by wild turkeys.
It may sound like an unlikely explanation, but PG&E regional communications representative Stephanie Magallon explained that the birds can create a rather unusual electrical hazard.
“These large birds perch on power lines,” she said. “When they take off, the push from their weight causes the lines to swing and come into contact with one another. When that occurs, our enhanced powerline safety settings (EPSS) detect the hazard and automatically shut off power to prevent an ignition.”
The system is particularly important along the North Coast, where power infrastructure runs through or near areas at elevated risk of wildfires.
PG&E said its enhanced safety settings are activated based on daily wildfire conditions and can cut electricity extremely quickly when a potential hazard is detected.
“We evaluate wildfire risk each day to determine when we should turn them on,” Magallon told the California based outlet. “These settings shut off power within one tenth of a second after detecting hazards on the power line, such as contact from an animal or tree branch, to prevent an ignition.”
Rather than simply blaming the birds and moving on, PG&E crews have been investigating ways to prevent the unusual outages from happening again.
The utility said crews recently worked to modify the lines by creating more space between them, reducing the chances that the wires will touch when a turkey lands or takes off.
Residents and observers have reported increasingly large flocks of turkeys around the coastal community, with the birds commonly roosting in trees close to electrical lines.
Although wild turkeys can fly, they aren’t exactly graceful long-distance aviators. Some residents have reported seeing the birds land on power lines while taking off from nearby trees.
Young turkeys that have recently fledged may be even more likely to misjudge the distance and wind up where they shouldn’t.
The feathered troublemakers have also tangled with Cambria’s electrical infrastructure before.
In 2021, a flying turkey was reportedly seen striking a power line during an outage that affected much of the community, according to reporting cited by the Tribune. PG&E did not confirm at the time that the bird caused the outage.
For now, the latest incidents have left residents with an unusual explanation for their flickering lights — and PG&E with a decidedly unconventional reliability problem.
“We understand these outages have been frustrating for customers, and we appreciate the community’s patience while we worked to identify and address the cause,” Magallon said.