Raccoon leads to downtown power outage

A raccoon got into a substation early this morning and caused a widespread power outage downtown, according to Entergy officials. The raccoon entered the Entergy downtown substation off River Road and energized equipment, which led to the outage that started around 3:30 a.m., says Jeff Holeman, an Entergy spokesman. Fewer than 1,200 households around downtown were without power for about 90 minutes, Holeman says. While the power company has devices to keep animals from entering the substation, the raccoon got around them. “These animals get in places where they ought not to be,” he says.—Timothy Boone