When your lights go out, you know how fast life gets disrupted. There are a number of reasons that outages occur — and sometimes, the reason is a bird’s nest. This is a story of how one crew worked to keep the power on — while giving ospreys a safer place to call home.
Nesting Season Is Here
Keeping the lights on takes more than just wires and switches. Our teams use smart sensors to spot outages and reroute power in seconds. But sometimes, the solution is a little more surprising — like installing a 35- to 60-foot utility pole just for birds.
Yes, really.
These tall poles look like a regular utility pole you would see on the street. But instead of having electric equipment on top, our crews assemble special platforms for ospreys to safely build their nests on. Crews also install plastic shields on the real utility poles to discourage birds from using them.
“It’s prime time nesting season for ospreys, and believe it or not, they love to build nests on our equipment,” said Shannon Hemmerly, an environmental specialist with AEP.
But when a nest risks starting a fire or knocking out power, they step in.
“We love the ospreys — we just don’t want them on our equipment,” said Jason Stacy, a district system supervisor for southeast Columbus. “If there are no eggs or chicks, we move the nests to what we call a raptor platform.”
These platforms are installed on taller wooden poles placed close to the original nest. The goal is simple: give the birds a safer option nearby.
Real Impact
Recently, crews near Pickerington found an osprey nest on electrical equipment that impacted about 5,000 customers.
“We found a nest on the pole. It fell where the circuits come together and caused the outage,” said Rich McCathran, a line crew supervisor. “The nest burned up. Luckily, there were no eggs or chicks, and the mother bird wasn’t there.”
After the outage, crews installed a 60-foot pole nearby and moved the nest. The osprey came back — just to a safer spot.
Work That Doesn’t Stop
This isn’t a one-time fix. Crews deal with this every year, learning more about osprey behavior along the way.
“We’re actually seeing this as continuous issue,” Jason said. “Every year we put up more animal mitigation devices.”
Electricity is powerful and even something as small as a nest can create a dangerous situation for an entire community. That’s why our teams have installed more than 18,000 animal protection units across our service territory, including these nesting poles, and it hasn’t slowed down.
A Win-Win for Everyone
The goal is simple: protect wildlife and keep your power on.
“We take pride in making sure these birds are protected,” Jason said. “When they use the platforms instead of our equipment, it’s a win-win. The birds are safe, and our customers keep their lights on.”
Every year, ospreys return to the same nesting spots. Now, they have a safer place to call home and you get reliable power in return.
