Super Bowl Blackout Source Identified: Not Beyonce

The culprit behind the 34-minute, stadium-wide power outage that brought the Super Bowl to a screeching halt in New Orleans last Sunday has been identified -- and breathe easy, Beyonce fans, it wasn't her high-wattage halftime performance that did it. 

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According to a statement released today by Entergy New Orleans Inc., the local power company, the cause of the power outage was deemed to be "an electrical relay device."

"The device was specifically installed to protect the Mercedes-Benz Superdome equipment in the event of a cable failure between the switchgear and the stadium," the explanation reads. "During Sunday's game, the relay device triggered, signaling a switch to open when it should not have, causing the partial outage."

The device has since been removed and "the Superdome is fully functional," Entergy CEO Charles Rice told the New Orleans City Council during a Friday morning meeting.

Theories and jokes were flying as soon as the lights went out, with Beyonce, who worked overtime to entertain the 108 million fans who tuned in for the game, getting more than her share of suspicion.

"There's so many things that could happen and God was on my side, so I'm very, very happy that it went well and the power went out after," she told reporters after the show.