Middle Tennessee Electric stumped by snakes causing Franklin power outages

Gabrielle Chenault , Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Middle Tennessee Electric officials are grappling with a series of confounding power outages caused by an unusual culprit: snakes.

In the past 10 days, four power outages in Williamson County have been attributed to these reptiles.

The latest incident at Henpeck substation was triggered by gray rat snakes scaling poles and electrocuting themselves.

“This is a very unusual situation because MTE is a modern, state-of-the-art electric utility with a 99.98% reliability rating. But sometimes Mother Nature has other ideas,” said MTE spokesperson Larry Rose.

Established in 1936, MTE is the second-largest electric cooperative in the country and serves over 750,000 people.

Grey rat snakes, known to be excellent climbers, are native to the eastern and central U.S. and are commonly found in forests. They are usually found near streams, around farms and in suburban areas where they pray upon small mammals and bird eggs, according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

“This is similar to having a breaker in your home’s breaker box trip. Each time this has happened, we dispatch a crew to the substation where the crew will remove the snake’s carcass and will reset the tripped breaker,” said Rose.

'No good answer'

But why is this suddenly happening now?

One of the leading theories for the inundation of snakes on electrical stations now is the warm weather. Snake mating season tends to last from April through late September. The TWRA states that “females lay 6-30 eggs under rotten logs, stumps, or rocks during the summer."

The MTE has tried three types of repellants but said nothing has worked.

"We have no good answer, honestly," Rose said. "It's really strange and we don’t know why they’re doing it."

The MTE recently enlisted the help of the TWRA due to many local pest control companies not having the proper license to deal with wildlife.

“Due to the story going viral, we got a call from a retiree in Texas who recommended a system that they’ve used out there,” he said. “If anyone has any ideas we are more than willing to listen because quite frankly, we truly have no idea why this is happening.”

The MTE met with TWRA officials on Wednesday to discuss solutions to prevent the snakes from causing additional damage.

“We have apologized for the inconvenience this situation is causing our members in the area,” the MTE said in a statement. “We have assured them we are working very hard to find a solution to the snake incursions into our equipment.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Snake electrocution is to blame for MTE’s latest outages in Franklin