UPDATE: Bird on a Wire Caused Power Outage

10:47 a.m. update: Power has been restored to all of Concord and the capital region. According to Unitil, a bird on a wire caused the outage. One Patch reader noted that it was a hawk down at the substation off Ferry Street. A couple of years ago, it was a bird on the Bow transformer; three summers ago, it was a squirrel that knocked out power to thousands. Enjoy some Leonard Cohen:

9:41 a.m. update: Power is slowing being restored in the region. Concord Fire just reported that Unitil has isolated the issue and is continuing to work on restoration, according to scanner chatter.

9:25 a.m. update: Unitil workers on Commercial Street have just told Concord Police that they are working on switches at that location and when that is done, power should be restored throughout the city, according to scanner chatter. 13,900 are currently without power.

9:17 a.m. update: Unitil is currently still assessing when they will have power back on in the capital region. We’re up to 13,820. More than 60 percent of Concord is without power.

9 a.m. update: No word yet on why the city is without power at this hour.

The first post is below.

The city and surrounding towns are currently experiencing a massive power outage, according to Unitil. The outage occurred at just before 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2015.

Currently, more than 12,300 customers in Concord - more than half the city - are without power. A third of Bow - more than 1,000 - also have no power. Smaller outages are also being reported in Boscawen, Canterbury, Chichester, Dunbarton, Hooksett, and Loudon. Eversource is reporting a single customer without power in Loudon.

Alarms are reportedly activating at numerous businesses and homes due to the outage.

There is no reported reason for the outage at post time but some residents on the Heights reported hearing a loud explosion.