At the PUC’s August 3 meeting, Mike Taylor, electrical supervisor for the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission, told the PUC board that his crew had installed a new breaker in a substation and added squirrel protection to the unit.
Locally and nationally squirrels cause a lot of problems when they enter a substation and gnaw on wires, which causes a power outage, including a permanent power outage for the gnawing squirrel.
While his crew was performing that task they found a dead raven in the substation. Taylor said the raven hadn’t caused any damage, but added there was little anyone could do to stop this from happening again.
Taylor also reported that while running the city’s five-megawatt power plant a problem was found with the computer. Until that can be fixed, Taylor said the city would have to rely totally on power provider Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) for its power.
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