Beyoncé’s smoking-hot halftime performance did not cut the power at the Super Bowl, after all.
Blame the electric company, instead.
Entergy New Orleans yesterday admitted that a relay — a device designed to prevent a blackout — plunged the game into darkness for more than a half-hour right after the halftime show.
The relay had been installed specifically to protect the Superdome from problems in the cable linking the main incoming power line with those that run into the stadium.
But not long after yesterday’s announcement, the relay’s manufacturer, the Chicago-based S&C Electric Co., bounced the blame right back to Entergy.
“If higher settings had been applied, the equipment would not have disconnected the power,” said Michael Edmonds, S&C VP of strategic solutions.
After last Sunday’s 34-31 Baltimore Raven victory over the San Francisco 49ers, speculation was rampant that the grid just couldn’t handle Beyoncé.
Even her husband, Jay-Z, embraced the theory — tweeting from the darkened stadium: “Lights out!!! Any questions??”