Services restored by 9 a.m.

CHAPPELL -- Wheat Belt Public Power District reported this morning several outages near Chappell.

Wheat Belt officials announced this morning that several customers in the Chappell area were without power this morning. All services served by the Chappell substation were impacted, according to social media reports. Crews were dispatched.

Kelli Chaon, Customer Engagement Manager for Wheat Belt, said the early morning outage is due to wildlife.

"We had a call about 6 this morning that our substation at Chappell was down. Crews responded about 6:15. They troubleshooted and found out that a blackbird had landed on a transformer in the substation and took the transformer out," Chaon said

She said power was restored by with the help from another substation.

"Our Operations Manager is in contact with Tri-State (Energy), our generation and transmission provider, They are sending crews up. Raleigh has transferred load from that substation to another substation," she said.

She said all Wheat Belt customers in the Chappell area should have power.

"Effective as of 9:15, 9 a.m. this morning, we have all services restored," she said.