Buzzards Cause Power Outages In Fairfield County

American Electric Power may have figured out what is causing some customers to periodically lose power.

Black buzzards roosting on transmission lines and transformers have caused a number of temporary power outages in Fairfield

“They seem to perch themselves on the lines to sun themselves or dry their wings,” said Fay White of AEP Ohio. “As the birds open their wings, and these birds can have a wingspan of several feet, it actually made contact with some energized equipment and that triggers a fault on the line, which causes an outage and of course can cause injury or be fatal to the birds.”

White said that after hearing complaints from some living nearby, crews have installed 6-inch tall plastic spikes that are meant to deter the birds from landing on the lines and transformers.

According to White, AEP has used the spikes before.

“This is something that happens among a variety of birds, osprey, buzzards and eagles. They tend to want to roost on these lines, and so whenever there’s a problem, we try to be preventative and take care of it,” White said.

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