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Rochester News
MPR News Staff
Updated:

Raccoon survives encounter with electrical transformer in Rochester

raccoon
Rochester Public Utilities posted on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 with an update, "this morning’s power outage caused by a curious raccoon — the little rascal survived!"
Courtesy of Rochester Public Utilities

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Nearly seven years after the MPR raccoon survived its high-wire adventure on the side of a St. Paul skyscraper — another Minnesota raccoon has beaten the odds to escape a life-threatening predicament.

Utility officials in Rochester say a wayward raccoon survived a close encounter with a transformer in an electrical substation early Wednesday.

The incident knocked out power to a couple thousand homes and businesses in the northeast part of the city.

Rochester Public Utilities crews were able to restore electrical service to all customers by about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

In later updates — you could call them “shocking” developments — Rochester Public Utilities said the “little rascal” responsible for the outage survived its brush with high voltage, and left the substation on its own.

“That’s not usually the case when animals come into contact with our infrastructure, so we’re relieved this story has a good ending,” the utility reported — adding: “To our furry friend: wishing you a full recovery… and please, steer clear of our equipment next time!”

Because the raccoon may have been hurt in its brush with the transformer, officials asked that anyone who sees an injured raccoon in northeast Rochester to call the city’s Animal Control so it can get medical care.