Graphic by Becky Ninneman

A large portion of Platteville and some surrounding areas were without power during the early hours of March 13, and it was the fault of a small mammal.

A raccoon near the town of Rewey shut down two substations serving Platteville, Alliant Energy spokesperson Steve Schultz said. The raccoon was on a kilovolt line and tripped a fault current. A kilovolt line is a large transmission cable, commonly used in rural areas.

Alliant Energy worked with the American Transmission Company to restore power,

The two substations affected were the Pioneer and McGregor substations, Schultz said. The Pioneer substation is located on Southwest Road and McGregor is on Business Highway 151.

The power outage occurred from approximately 4-5:20 a.m., Platteville city clerk Annette Dutcher said in a press release. The outage affected an estimated 4,500 customers, but power was fully restored.