12:30pm - UNR sent out this statement regarding the power outages:
The University is presently experiencing a power outage impacting 10 buildings on the “south loop” electrical distribution system: the buildings include the Brian Whalen Parking Structure, Central Heat Plant, Davidson Math & Science, Fitzgerald Student Services, Fleischman Agriculture, Harry Reid Engineering Laboratory, Harry Reid Engineering Hydraulic Pump Building, Laxalt Mineral Research, Raggio Education Building and Scrugam Engineering. Some of these buildings have back-up power, so the outage may not be evident. The matter is presently being addressed and it is anticipated that power will be restored by early afternoon.
By way of background we have experienced a continuing problem with the 65-year-old “south loop” power distribution system for several months which resulted in six unscheduled outages since February. We recognize and greatly apologize for the inconvenience this issue has placed on our faculty, staff and students and appreciate your continued patience with our efforts to resolve the situation. Please know that all available resources are being called upon to correct the problem and we’re continuing to narrow the number of potential causes for these outages and are working with our staff and various electrical contractors and vendors to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
This outage is similar to the power outage experienced yesterday. Yesterday’s event impacted four additional buildings including the Joe Crowley Student Union, the Applied Research Facility, the Judicial College, and the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center. The total event yesterday lasted roughly five hours which was longer than anticipated as we were conducting additional tests to narrow the potential scope of the problem. Ultimately, we transferred these four buildings off of the problematic “south loop” onto the “north loop” which is why these four buildings are not impacted by today’s outage. Please note that following the resumption of power early this afternoon, the Raggio Education Building, Brian Whalen Parking Structure and the Fitzgerald Student Services building will be also moved onto the more reliable “north loop” until such times as we have resolved the “south loop” problem.
As always, any emergency situation should be reported to the Police Services “duty phone” at 745-6195.
