NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan consumers have long suspected a little monkey business when it comes to their power bills, but the news making its way around the country on Wednesday was almost too much to believe.

A nationwide blackout that knocked out lights, severed internet service and paralyzed countless businesses for more than three hours on Tuesday was caused by a monkey, the electricity company announced.

The monkey, which appeared to be of the Vervet species, with a collar of white fur, climbed onto the roof of the Gitaru Power Station and fell or jumped onto a transformer. The transformer tripped, which in turn tripped other machines at the hydroelectric power station, setting off a nationwide blackout, the Kenya Electricity Generation Company, or KenGen, said.