A power outage struck the Rooke Science Center and the Olin Science building on Oct. 1 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Campus members were notified via email, and affected classes were re-located to a different building.

“The outage was caused by the failure in the main transformer … that converts the incoming voltage to normal operating voltage,” Director of Facility Services Mike Patterson said.

The main power in Rooke and Olin needed to be disconnected so the transformer could be repaired. While its failure is not completely understood, overnight storms could have contributed to the failure, Patterson said.

“Our Senior Associate Director for Maintenance and the electricians on our staff coordinated the repairs that restored power with assistance from other members of Facilities as well as the Department of Environmental Health and Safety,” Patterson said.

Preventative maintenance and repair programs keep unplanned power outages to a minimum. They are also reduced because the University generates its own power, which can be used as a backup for certain situations.