A power outage in parts of the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, June 11, 2025, was caused by a snake that slithered into a substation belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The incident occurred at the Kwaso substation in the Ejisu municipality, where the snake made contact between a feeder and the ground, prompting an automatic shutdown of the Akyawkrom 2 feeder line.
According to ECG officials, power was restored shortly after their emergency response team intervened. However, they warn that the incident is part of a growing pattern of wildlife interfering with power infrastructure.
“Wildlife, especially snakes and birds, continue to pose real threats to grid reliability,” said Collins Manu, Public Relations Officer for ECG’s Ashanti Sub-Transmission.
To address the issue, ECG says it is implementing several measures, including the installation of snake guards, sealing of cable entry points, vegetation management around substations, and improved drainage systems to make the facilities less accessible to animals. The company is also urging residents to report any unusual activity around power infrastructure.
Ing. Peter K. Fletcher, General Manager of the Ashanti Sub-Transmission, emphasized the importance of public vigilance. “Early reports from the public help prevent outages,” he said.
The state-owned power distributor noted that while such wildlife-related incidents are not technical faults, they remain a significant risk to the stability of the electricity grid. ECG says it is scaling up efforts to reduce these incidents as part of its broader infrastructure protection strategy.
