The most-memorable stadium power outage

Written July 18, 2008, after a power outage the night before ...

Crane delay: Bird flips switch on park’s lights

Alabama Power identified the culprit that caused a 28-minute delay in Thursday’s game at Riverwalk Stadium, but the accused will escape punishment.
A crane crashed into a power transmission line between north Montgomery and Wetumpka, causing a substation breaker to operate twice, Alabama Power spokeswoman Jan Ellis said Friday.
The bird did not survive.
It interrupted service for a moment to Riverwalk, but one set of stadium lights went out, which caused the delay. The stadium lights, when they lose power, need about 30 minutes to warm up again.
Workers found the crane while checking the lines after the outage, Ellis said. Birds don’t regularly hit the power lines, though squirrels are a nuisance, she said.