Published: January 14, 2009 11:47 am         

Lights go out at OSU

Power outage hits southwest corner of campus for 1.5 hours

The southwest corner of the Oklahoma State University campus lost electricity for an hour and a half Tuesday night.

Gary Shutt, director of communications for OSU, said power went out at approximately 6:10 p.m. and was restored by 7:35 p.m. Shutt said the outage occurred on the portion of campus that includes Willard Hall, Whitehurst Hall and Parker Residence Hall when a transformer blew at the sub-station near McElroy and Willis.

Shutt said he was not sure what activities or classes had been scheduled in the buildings that lost power, but workers in those buildings would have had to deal with canceling or rescheduling any programs that were affected by the outage.

Three transformers provide electricity for the area of campus that was affected, and workers from Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company were able to transfer the electrical load from the transformer that blew to the other two transformers that were working.

Shutt said they were unsure what caused the outage, and OG&E workers would decide whether to repair or replace the transformer when they figured out the cause and extent of the damage. In the meantime, the working transformers have enough capacity to support the electrical load from the third transformer, according to Shutt.

Crowds that had gathered at the Student Union Theater for a “Crystal Darkness” watch party at 6:30 p.m. were unable to view the documentary because of technical problems involving the building’s cable connection, said Student Union Night Manager Mike Harding.

Harding said there were no plans to reschedule the program, which was to include a panel discussion about substance abuse with counselors, representatives from the Stillwater and OSU police departments and other local experts. Harding said organizers realized the problem when they were setting up.

Sheryl Johnson, senior support specialist for building operations at the OSU Student Union, said the Student Union Parking Garage also lost power.

Workers for building support at the physical plant said they were unable to comment about the outage.

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.