For up-to-date information before, during, and after the planned outage, please visit the UC Santa Barbara Administrative Services Status Page at https://status.arit.ucsb.edu and subscribe to updates.
UCSB Campus Electrical Outage
Thursday, March 27th, 9:00 pm
We know that there is never a good time for a power outage, but a planned outage is better than an unplanned one. The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving the campus. The work entails repairs on the vault located on Los Carneros Road, repairs to the Remote Transmission Switch that leads to the Colegio Substation, and a deteriorated pole replacement. This work will require a power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
SCE expects their portion of the outage to be over before noon on Friday, March 28. Once power has been restored, Facilities Management will re-energize campus and check all building systems to ensure they are operating, and will provide updates via Statuspage.
For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu
- Building entrance doors that are controlled by use of an electric card reader will function as normal during the outage as they are battery operated.
- For safety and security reasons, do not prop open exterior building doors when the power is out.
- Building fire protection systems will continue to function, however, network connections from building main fire alarm panels will be unavailable for notification to UCSB Emergency Services.
- DO NOT use elevators as they will be non-operational during the electrical outage.
- Many University buildings have emergency generators. These are designed to provide power for life safety systems and critical equipment only (i.e. fire protection systems, standby egress lighting, and medical/life support equipment).
- In most areas, electrical outlets that are on emergency power are designated by their red color.
- Several preparedness procedures for residential customers are recommended by Southern California Edison at this website, and specific to University-operated residential facilities. Please note the following:
- DO NOT use candles.
- Charge your cell phone prior to the power outage.
- Install surge protectors and/or unplug sensitive electrical equipment to help mitigate potential damage when power is restored (e.g. desktop computers, televisions/audio visual equipment, special equipment for the care of infants, elderly, or comfort pets).
- Do not begin a dishwasher cycle until power has been restored.
- Keep your refrigerator/freezer doors closed. See the section below on Refrigeration for more detail.
- If possible, employees should power down their machines (PCs and printers) at the end of the work day on Thursday, March 27 or their last day in the office prior to Thursday
- Remote desktop access through VPN will not be available during the outage
- Email and other cloud-based services like Zoom and Canvas will remain operational
- The North Hall Data Center expects all hardware that has been identified as critical to remain up and running during the outage.
- If you are a customer of the NHDC, John Waller has sent an email with more details. You can contact him directly with questions or concerns
- Cell phone service on campus will likely go down several hours into the power outage, and should return once commercial power is restored
- Campus “blue light” emergency phones will remain in operation during the outage, however the blue light will not be illuminated
- The campus core network, Domain Name System (DNS) servers, and internet service will be available during the outage. Individual building network service will vary based on generator power and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) availability.
- G Suite tools (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc.) will not be impacted by the outage.
- The campus telephone system will operate on generator and battery back-up power. No disruption is anticipated.
- The campus radio system will operate on generator and battery back-up power. No disruption is anticipated.
- Building access control could be limited and your Access Card may not work.
- Voice Over IP (VOIP) and Panasonic DBS phone systems will be impacted. If you experience issues when power comes back on, contact help@commserv.ucsb.edu.
- Video Security as a Service (VSaaS) aka security cameras could be impacted (except the North Hall Data Center and Library cameras). While service depends on individual building switches and generators, notify your VSaaS provider if you experience issues after campus power is restored.
- The campus chilled water loop will be offline during the outage. Please plan for affected areas to not have continuous cooling.
- Building automated controls will be non-operational during the outage.
- Avoid opening and closing refrigerators to allow units to retain temperatures.
Are you prepared for a power outage? Update your contact information HERE!
CONTACT US
- Report an outage: 1-800-611-1911 or www.sce.com/outage
- Outage Updates AFTER you have reported it:
- SCE’s Outage Communications Team for Business Customers
- Email: sceoutage@sce.com
- Phone: 1-855-683-9067
- SCE’s Outage Communications Team for Business Customers
- Public Safety Power Shutoff — Am I Impacted? www.sce.com/psps
- General Business Customer Service: 1-800-990-7788
- SCE’s website: www.sce.com
- Ready To Get Your Business’s Vehicles Charged Up? Visit www.sce.com/business/electric-cars/Charge-Ready
- Most traffic signals on campus will be without power for the duration of the planned outage.
Campus Notifications
TO: Campus Community
FR: Design, Facilities & Safety Services
RE: Campuswide Power Outage: 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27 (Final Notification)
This is the final notice. Please be sure your research, office and residence spaces are prepared for the planned power outage. See the webpage for suggestions on how to prepare and what to expect.
The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving our campus which will result in a planned power outage.
Please see additional details below in planning for Thursday’s planned power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
SCE expects their portion of the outage to be over before noon on Friday, March 28. Once power has been restored, Facilities Management will re-energize campus and check all building systems to ensure they are operating, and will provide updates via Statuspage.
- For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27
- If possible, employees should power down their machines (PCs and printers) at the end of the work day on Thursday, March 27 or their last day in the office prior to Thursday
- Remote desktop access through VPN will not be available during the outage
- Email and other cloud-based services like Zoom and Canvas will remain operational
- The North Hall Data Center expects all hardware that has been identified as critical to remain up and running during the outage.
- If you are a customer of the NHDC, John Waller has sent an email with more details. You can contact him directly with questions or concerns
- Cell phone service on campus will likely go down several hours into the power outage, and should return once commercial power is restored
- Campus “blue light” emergency phones will remain in operation during the outage, however the blue light will not be illuminated
- For safety and security reasons, do not prop open exterior building doors when the power is out.
- Do not use elevators as they will be non-operational during the electrical outage.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus. The map below denotes in yellow the buildings and facilities that will be impacted by the power interruption.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
Please visit the Planned Power Outage webpage so you can see how to prepare your area.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu
TO: Campus Community
FR: Design, Facilities & Safety Services
RE: Campuswide Power Outage: 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27 (4th Notification)
The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving our campus which will result in a planned power outage.
Please see additional details below in planning for Thursday’s planned power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
SCE expects their portion of the outage to be over before noon on Friday, March 28. Once power has been restored, Facilities Management will re-energize campus and check all building systems to ensure they are operating, and will provide updates via Statuspage.
- For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27
- If possible, employees should power down their machines (PCs and printers) at the end of the work day on Thursday, March 27 or their last day in the office prior to Thursday
- Remote desktop access through VPN will not be available during the outage
- Email and other cloud-based services like Zoom and Canvas will remain operational
- The North Hall Data Center expects all hardware that has been identified as critical to remain up and running during the outage.
- If you are a customer of the NHDC, John Waller has sent an email with more details. You can contact him directly with questions or concerns
- Cell phone service on campus will likely go down several hours into the power outage, and should return once commercial power is restored
- Campus “blue light” emergency phones will remain in operation during the outage, however the blue light will not be illuminated
- For safety and security reasons, do not prop open exterior building doors when the power is out.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus. The map below denotes in yellow the buildings and facilities that will be impacted by the power interruption.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
Please visit the Planned Power Outage webpage so you can see how to prepare your area.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu
TO: Campus Community
FR: Design, Facilities & Safety Services
RE: Campuswide Power Outage: 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27 (3rd Notification)
We know that there is never a good time for a power outage, but a planned outage is better than an unplanned one. The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving the campus. The work entails repairs on the vault located on Los Carneros Road, repairs to the Remote Transmission Switch that leads to the Colegio Substation, and a deteriorated pole replacement. This work will require a power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
SCE expects their portion of the outage to be over before noon on Friday, March 28. Once power has been restored, Facilities Management will re-energize campus and check all building systems to ensure they are operating, and will provide updates via Statuspage.
- For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27
- If possible, employees should power down their machines (PCs and printers) at the end of the work day on Thursday, March 27 or their last day in the office prior to Thursday
- Remote desktop access through VPN will not be available during the outage
- Email and other cloud-based services like Zoom and Canvas will remain operational
- The North Hall Data Center expects all hardware that has been identified as critical to remain up and running during the outage.
- If you are a customer of the NHDC, John Waller has sent an email with more details. You can contact him directly with questions or concerns
- Cell phone service on campus will likely go down several hours into the power outage, and should return once commercial power is restored
- Campus “blue light” emergency phones will remain in operation during the outage, however the blue light will not be illuminated
- For safety and security reasons, do not prop open exterior building doors when the power is out.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus. The map below denotes in yellow the buildings and facilities that will be impacted by the power interruption.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
Please visit the Planned Power Outage webpage so you can see how to prepare your area.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu
TO: Campus Community
FR: Design, Facilities & Safety Services
RE: Campuswide Power Outage: 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27 (2nd Notification)
We know that there is never a good time for a power outage, but a planned outage is better than an unplanned one. The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving the campus. The work entails repairs on the vault located on Los Carneros Road, repairs to the Remote Transmission Switch that leads to the Colegio Substation, and a deteriorated pole replacement. This work will require a power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
SCE expects their portion of the outage to be over before noon on Friday, March 28. Once power has been restored, Facilities Management will re-energize campus and check all building systems to ensure they are operating, and will provide updates via Statuspage.
For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus. The map below denotes in yellow the buildings and facilities that will be impacted by the power interruption.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
A planning process is currently underway to identify and address the needs of our campus community. Please visit the Planned Power Outage webpage so you can see how to prepare your area.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu
TO: Campus Community
FR: Design, Facilities & Safety Services
RE: Campuswide Power Outage: 9 p.m. Thursday 3/27 – Afternoon of Friday 3/28 (1st Notification)
We know that there is never a good time for a power outage, but a planned outage is better than an unplanned one. The Public Utilities Commission has directed Southern California Edison (SCE) to perform upgrades on the power transmission systems serving the campus. The work entails repairs on the vault located on Los Carneros Road, repairs to the Remote Transmission Switch that leads to the Colegio Substation, and a deteriorated pole replacement. This work will require a power service interruption (i.e. power outage) to the UC Santa Barbara main campus and all areas served by the campus electrical distribution system.
As soon as the work is completed and power has been restored to the campus, teams from UC Santa Barbara Facilities Management will begin checking and restoring building system(s) functionality (such as elevators, building mechanical systems, Metasys and lighting). We anticipate the campus will be fully operational by Friday afternoon.
The service interruption is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 27, 2025, and campus should be fully operational by the afternoon of Friday, March 28, 2025 which is a state holiday.
For your safety, we recommend you vacate all non-residential buildings by 8 p.m. Thursday, March 27.
The planned service interruption will impact UC Santa Barbara properties and facilities only, including all main campus buildings and a number of adjacent housing and dining facilities that receive their electrical power service directly from campus. The map below denotes in yellow the buildings and facilities that will be impacted by the power interruption.
Faculty housing in the Ocean Walk and West Campus developments are on a separate transmission line and will not be impacted.
A planning process is currently underway to identify and address the needs of our campus community. Please visit the Planned Power Outage webpage soon so you can see how to prepare your area.
If you have questions or would like to identify areas that may require special attention, please email: poweroutage@fm.ucsb.edu