Unplanned Power Outage 3/23 - 3/24/22

SDSU Urgent was activated from March 23 - 24, 2022 after an unplanned power outage impacted parts of campus.

UPDATE: April 1 at 2:30 p.m.: As an update to this morning’s message, Facilities Services has returned to our normal power configuration. While SDG&E and Facilities Services are still troubleshooting some of the issues from the partial power outages earlier this week, we believe our current power supply configuration provides the most reliable power for our campus community.

Given what we have seen since the transition this morning, we are not expecting any additional power interruptions at this time.

We will continue to keep the campus updated of any important developments.

April 1 at 9:15 a.m.: Facilities Services and SDG&E continue to assess causes for the power fluctuation issues the campus has recently experienced. When we cutover from our campus CoGen power to utility power today at 7:30 a.m., Substation A and power to those serviced buildings was temporarily lost. Power to campus buildings directly impacted has been restored. 

Facilities Services is continuing the troubleshooting efforts with SDG&E and additional timely updates will be shared. 

Call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754 should you experience any direct power-related impacts and need support. 

March 30 at 4:00 p.m.: Both SDG&E and Facilities Services continue to assess the cause of unplanned power outages that affected the campus last week. Our next phase of assessment is to revert back to our normal electrical utility configuration. The cutover back to utility power will be on Friday, April 1, at 7:30 a.m.  

While we are not expecting the cutover to result in any outages on campus, we are recommending that anyone overseeing sensitive equipment prepare that equipment for an outage out of an abundance of caution.  

We will continue the troubleshooting process through the morning and should have an update for the campus on Friday afternoon. We will also continue to keep the campus updated of any important developments and ask that you call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754 should you experience any direct power-related impacts and need support. 

March 24 at 12:20 p.m.: As shared yesterday, San Diego State University has been assessing to determine the source of what has caused intermittent power outages since the morning of March 23. As our assessment and mitigation efforts continue, the following provides an update and action steps. 

Planned, Temporary Power Outage

A scheduled power outage is planned for tomorrow, March 25, at 4 a.m., and the time was purposefully selected when few students, faculty and staff are on campus. During that time, a relay in Substation A will be replaced. This is part of our ongoing effort to ensure our campus electrical infrastructure is not contributing to the power fluctuation issues we have been experiencing. The power outage is scheduled to occur until 5 a.m. and will impact buildings fed from Substation A. Those buildings are as follows: 

  • "A" Parking Lot
  • Administration
  • Art I (South)
  • Arts and Letters
  • Atkinson Hall
  • Aztec Bookstore
  • Aztec Shops Terrace
  • Bioscience Center
  • Charles Hostler Hall
  • Chemical Sciences Lab
  • CoGeneration Plant
  • East Commons
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences
  • Facilities Services (Physical Plant)
  • Facilities Services Boiler Shop
  • Faculty Staff Center
  • Garage, Facilities Services
  • Geology Math and Computer Science
  • Geology, Math and Computer Science Addition
  • Hardy Tower
  • Hazmat Building
  • Hepner Hall
  • Life Science North
  • Life Science South
  • North Art
  • Nasatir Hall
  • North Education
  • North Education 60
  • Physical Sciences
  • Physics
  • Physics-astronomy
  • Professional Studies and Fine Arts
  • Radiation Waste (T13)
  • Storm Hall
  • Storm Hall West

Action Steps 

Those overseeing sensitive equipment may want to shut that equipment down as a safety measure prior to leaving today, and no later than 4 a.m. tomorrow, Friday. This includes desktop or laptop computers in affected buildings, each of these devices out of an abundance of caution, should be powered down.

In the event of any power outages, avoid opening refrigerated units during any power interruption to help ensure that items will stay cold for a longer period of time. 

If you experience any direct impacts and need support, call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754.

March 23 at 4:12 p.m.: There will be a planned power interruption on Friday, March 25, between about 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on the buildings fed from Substation A. Those buildings are as follows:

  • Adams Humanities
  • Arts and Letters
  • Atkinson Hall
  • East Commons
  • Engineering
  • Geology Mathematics Computer Science (GMCS)
  • Hepner Hall
  • Lamden Hall
  • Love Library
  • Love Library Addition
  • Manchester Hall
  • North Education
  • Physical Sciences

March 23 at 4:04 p.m.: San Diego State University has not been able to stabilize power to campus while continuing to assess the reason why a partial power outage occurred this morning, March 23, resulting in intermittent loss of power in several buildings.

Facilities Services continues to assess with SDG&E to determine the source of the issue. The following provides an update on mitigation and assessment plans: SDSU continues to use generator power to help mitigate impacts to certain campus locations. The university will move into a different operational power mode today via our CoGen plant, beginning at 4:15 p.m. While we do not anticipate an outage during this transition, those overseeing sensitive equipment may want to shut them down until 4:30 p.m. today as a safety measure. We will also replace a relay in Substation A on Friday morning at 4 a.m. to try and isolate and locate the source of the problem. There will be a planned power interruption Friday morning between about 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on the buildings fed from Substation A.

While additional disruptions are not expected during this time of ongoing assessment, the campus community is asked to do the following between now and Friday, March 25:

  • Avoid opening refrigerated units during any power interruption to help ensure that items will stay cold for a longer period of time.
  • If you experience any direct impacts and need support, call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754.

We are not aware of other impacts to campus at this time. Should campus occupants experience any impacts, please call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754.

March 23 at 10:01 a.m.: San Diego State University is experiencing a partial power outage impacting buildings on campus due to fluctuations in our utility power. We are working with SDG&E to identify the source of this intermittent issue.

Facilities Services is working to diagnose and resolve the electrical interruption while concurrently resetting power to campus buildings. The university is using generator power for certain areas to help mitigate impact. Updates will be shared when more information is available.

We are not aware of other impacts to campus at this time. Should campus occupants experience any impacts, please call Facilities Services at 619-594-4754.