Mysterious Midnight Power Outage Leaves Northwest Kansas in the Dark… Thanks to One Ornery Critter

Did your smart lights suddenly pop on in the middle of the night? Maybe the microwave started blinking 12:00… or the coffee maker tried to start the day a little early? If so, you weren’t imagining things.

A late-night power outage early Friday morning briefly knocked out electricity for about 2,500 customers across Colby, Gem, Rexford, and Winona.

At first word going around town was that a raccoon might have been the culprit, but after checking with Midwest Energy, officials confirmed that some kind of critter managed to sneak inside the Colby substation and caused the outage.

Whatever the animal was, it apparently picked the wrong place to explore. The unexpected visitor tripped equipment inside the substation and cut power across the area for just under an hour before crews were able to restore electricity.

For many residents, the first sign something had happened wasn’t the lights going out—it was when everything powered back on at once. Smart lights flicked on, electronics rebooted, and plenty of people likely woke up wondering why their house suddenly decided it was morning.

You could say the mystery animal became a “crispy critter” after tangling with the wrong piece of electrical equipment.

In all seriousness, outages like this—especially overnight—can create challenges. Power interruptions can trigger business alarm systems and affect medical equipment like oxygen machines, which means emergency personnel often respond to multiple calls during these situations.

Thankfully, Midwest Energy crews quickly restored power, and local emergency responders were out making sure everything in the community was safe.

So if you were jolted awake by lights flipping on or appliances beeping in the middle of the night… you can thank one adventurous (and unfortunately unlucky) little critter for the excitement.