Oct. 10, 2019
As a follow-up to yesterday’s message about forecasted Santa Ana winds and the potential for Southern California Edison (SCE) to shut down power circuits in the area to prevent wildfire, this message is intended to inform the community about the efforts the University has put in place to minimize the disruption to campus operations during power outages.
Edison (SCE) provides electricity to the main campus through two separate feeds, with one serving as a back-up to the primary source. In the event of a disruption or intentional shut-down of both the primary and secondary sources of electricity, the University has generators in place which will provide power for the entire main campus and will support normal campus operations.
If SCE’s power supply to the campus ceases, generators will activate automatically to support the University’s most critical facilities and functions. Power will be restored to those areas within 2-5 seconds. Those locations include the data center and chiller in Ojai Hall, the police dispatch area in Placer Hall, the lighting in Broome Library, and all of Santa Rosa Village, Santa Cruz Village, Anacapa Village, Islands Café, Aliso Hall, and Sierra Hall.
All other facilities on campus (including the remainder of power needs at Ojai, Placer, and Broome) will have power restored after generators have been manually activated by University electricians. During the day, with electricians on duty, this process will take approximately 5-15 minutes. After normal working hours, this can take 20-40 minutes to complete. Fuel tanks on campus hold a sufficient amount of fuel to ensure continued operation of the generators in the event of a prolonged power outage. For acute needs, or to address any issues that might arise, the University also has several portable generators which can be deployed and activated, as needed.
Much effort has been made to create many layers of power redundancy and to ensure that the University is able to maintain normal operations during a power outage. If SCE decides to shut down power to the University, the campus will remain open for scheduled classes and activities.
Any questions or concerns may be directed to the Facilities Services Work Center at 805-437-8461 or fsworkcenter@csuci.edu.
Additional information specific to power outages in Ventura County may be found at VC Emergency. To monitor personal residences, students, faculty, staff, and University Glen residents are encouraged to register for notifications directly from VC Alert.