Berkeley - Power was restored to all buildings on the University
of California, Berkeley campus by 5:15 p.m. Friday, March 8.
A major failure in one of five campus electrical switching stations
caused a campuswide power outage just after 5 p.m. on Thursday evening.
Power was restored to most of the campus by midnight. However, about
two dozen campus buildings served by that switching station, including
the Haas School of Business, Boalt Hall Law School and four residence
halls, remained without power Friday morning.
The outage is believed to have been caused by water intrusion into
an underground switching station near the Haas School of Business on
the east side of the campus. The station suffered a major failure that
in turn caused a failure in the main power supply to the campus. PG&E
supplies electrical power to the campus, but it operates its own distribution
system.
No injuries due to the outage were reported, but several people were
trapped in elevators in 15 campus buildings. All were cleared from
the elevators within two hours, according to campus police.
In all, about 3,500 students living in campus residence halls got
through the night with back-up generators and flashlights. The 200
students living in Bowles Hall, which did not have access to emergency
power, were transported to other facilities for the night.
