Hundreds of Midwestern Power customers and two squirrels were very unlucky one day last fall.

Apparently a squirrel came into contact with an overhead transformer and knocked out service to 177 customers. Power was restored in just under an hour, but naturally the squirrel lost it’s life. The remains were found by repair crews.

Just 40 miles away in Ironwood, Mich, another squirrel got into a substation and caused a temporary power outage that affected 1400 customers.

The power company is now thinking about what kind of steps it can take to keep curious animals away from the lines as they, along with weather, are one of the leading causes of power outages.

“We kind of liken it to anyone who’s had a bird feeder and tried to keep the squirrels out,” said the power company spokesperson. “They find a way.”

Good luck!

Energy Ministers from the European Union were recently found out how important saving energy and resolving current problems are when they ended up sitting in the dark during a meeting on Thursday. A short blackout disrupted a discussion on, of all things, energy efficiency.

The lights went out around 10 a.m. British time. After initially halting talks, the ministers opted to go on debating how the 25-nation bloc can reduce its use of electricity and fuel. “They decided to continue working in the darkness,” an EU official present at the meeting said. “Delegations expressed the wish to continue the debate.”

Power came back shortly after the debate restarted, but the meeting was interrupted for nearly 30 minutes. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs apologised to ministers for the disruption.

“I hope that the next meetings will not be disturbed by blackouts but it definitely shows how important energy is,” he said. An EU official said several European institution buildings in Brussels were affected.