Keene power restored after squirrel interrupts service in West Keene

The problem started at about 10 a.m. when the animal damaged equipment near an Eversource substation on Emerald Street

A squirrel is being blamed for an outage that left about 400 Eversource customers in West Keene without electricity for roughly an hour Sunday, the utility said.

The problem started at about 10 a.m. when the animal damaged equipment near an Eversource substation on Emerald Street, according to spokesperson Kaitlyn Woods in a Monday email. She also said another 1,500 customers saw their lights flicker during the incident.

Woods was not immediately available Monday for more details.

Animal-caused outages are a familiar issue nationwide. The American Public Power Association has said squirrels rank among the leading causes of electrical disruptions, and in 2016 the group reported nearly 3,500 such outages across the country that affected more than 193,000 customers.

Keene has dealt with similar problems before. The city recorded squirrel-related outages in 2013, 2018 and 2019, with the 2013 and 2018 incidents also occurring near the Emerald Street substation, according to previous Sentinel reporting. Keene State College also reported a squirrel-related outage in 2025.

Squirrels have even interfered with holiday displays in the city. In 2017, they chewed through lights on Keene’s Christmas tree, prompting the Kiwanis Club to use soap and humane traps in an effort to keep them away from the display.