Parts of campus experiencing power outage

*This story was updated at 5:17 p.m.*

On Tuesday, at approximately 4:08 p.m. the lights flickered off throughout the TSC. This was the start of a power outage that has affected multiple buildings on campus. It is still unclear what areas of the campus have been affected and what caused the blackout.

John Chase statewide director for USU facilities wrote in a text message “Seems to be the SW area but we’re receiving additional information through customer service.”

USU Police Chief Jason Brei said that there isn’t any information on the power outage yet but the police department and facilities are working on figuring it out.

So far it is known that the power is out in the LLC and the Testing Center as well.

The Statesman will update this story as more information becomes available.

There was an Aggie Alert sent out at 4:33 p.m. that said “Power outage at the USU Logan Campus.” The description for the Aggie Alert read “An intermittent power outage has been reported on the Logan Main Campus. USU officials are working to identify and correct the issue. Avoid the area if possible. Updates to follow.”

Lights turned back on at the Testing Center and in the Merrill-Cazier Library at 4:32 p.m.

The power turned back on in the TSC at 4:48 p.m. The power was out in the building for approximately 40 minutes.

Hallway in Old Main as seen on March 5, 2024

Madison Black, an employee in the Testing Center, said online tests continued despite the outage because the wifi was still working.

“We’re using our little iPads to check people in, but we’ll see how long the battery lasts,” Black said.

The computers used to proctor tests remotely were down, but test proctors remained in the testing room.

“We have people walking around the room,” Black said. “We still have proctored tests, so the chance of cheating is still low.”

Black said students who may miss test deadlines because of the outage are responsible for working things out with their professor.

“This has never happened before, so we’re kind of paving new roads,” Black said. “But my first thought would be that yes, it would be between them and their professor.”

Ethan Green was at the Marketplace when the outage occurred.

“It went dark, came back on, and then went dark again,” Green said. “After 20 minutes, they started kicking people out because it’s not safe for them to be in there, and then of course, food starts to go bad.”

The Utah Statesman attempted to ask a Marketplace employee about the outage, but was told Dining Services employees are not allowed to speak to the press and communications must go through Alan Andersen, executive director of Dining Services.

One Marketplace employee told a questioning student that they would be back open in the next half hour, and that the Junction was still open.

The power turned back on in Old Main at approximately 6:00 p.m.

At 6:26 p.m. Brei informed the Statesman that all had been restored and power was back on in all the buildings.

After the power had turned back on Chase wrote in a text “Looks like we had a fault in an existing power line.” Repairs on the power line have been initiated.