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Power restored to all UC Berkeley buildings following campuswide power outage
08 March 2002

Media Relations

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.


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