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Residents in Northwest Harris County have been complaining about a series of on-again, off-again power outages plaguing the area in recent weeks. Now, we have an explanation.
What's to blame for the power outages? CenterPoint Energy officials are blaming "buzzards," large carrion birds that are interfering with transmission lines in Cypress, located about half an hour outside of downtown Houston, according to Chron. Residents also reported power flickering in their homes and dead outlets as a result.
"It was literally like someone was messing with the lights," resident Shyqua Nutall said.
CenterPoint issued a statement this week about the power outages. We are "aware of these momentary interruptions… and we apologize for any inconvenience. Wildlife interference on a transmission line has been identified as a contributing factor to these interruptions," the energy company said, later clarifying that the "wildlife interference" refers to buzzards.
"We get lots of wildlife, but I’ve never seen any buzzards," resident Mark Wales said. Local bird conservation Houston Audobon says "turkey buzzards" are common in the Houston area.
CenterPoint said they're working to fix these power outages by trimming trees close to transmission lines. "CenterPoint Energy is taking steps to address the interruptions, and in fact, work was done last week that should help mitigate them. In addition, some tree trimming activities are expected to take place beginning on Nov. 11 in these areas to further improve reliability," the company said.