Florida Iguana Causes ‘Large Scale’ Power Outage

Unfortunately, the incident resulted not only in the power outage in question, but also in the swift death of the iguana said to be responsible.

December 9, 2022

An iguana was to blame for a “large scale” power outage in a Florida city this week, officials said.

The reptilian debacle went down in Lake Worth Beach on Wednesday, with city officials confirming the source of the outage on social media.

“Lake Worth Beach Electric Utility is currently responding to a large scale outage caused by an iguana at our 6th Ave Substation,” officials said in an initial statement on the situation. “This outage is affecting customers in the South East area of our service territory. Our teams are working hard to repair the damage and restore the system. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

An updated statement had not been made public at the time of this writing. However, according to regional outlet WPTV, a total of 1,431 customers were affected by the outage, which is said to have been handled within an estimated 35-minute period. Worth noting here is that the city has been taking measures to prevent iguana-spurred incidents of this variety from happening, with an official quoted as telling the publication that such happenings have been less frequent in 2022 when compared with last year. This particular iguana, meanwhile, is reported to have died in the mishap.

Complex has reached out to the City of Lake Worth Beach for additional comment. This story may be updated.

As the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission points out, the Green Iguana is “not native to Florida” and is thus classified as “an invasive species.” Their presence in the state was first noted in the 1960s, with the commission warning that they are known to cause residential damage.