Facilities Power Outage Announcement

On Tuesday, November 20th there will be two power outages and occasional power interruptions (“blips”) between 6 a.m. and mid-day as the College commissions recently-installed emergency power infrastructure. Only buildings on the campus grid will be affected. Buildings west of Route 116 (South Pleasant St.) or north of Route 9 (College St.) will not be affected. (View a map of affected buildings.)

A large-scale emergency power system was recently installed as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the College’s overall resilience. The system provides the capability of electricity generation for the core campus in the event of an extended regional power outage. It must be tested and certified by the local utility before it can be used in an emergency, requiring the College to isolate the campus grid from our utility provider, switch to generating our own power (“island mode”), conduct a series of tests, and then reconnect the campus grid to our utility provider. This commissioning, led by the Design & Construction Department and managed from the Service Building, will involve work by a team of approximately 50 people from the College and 15 different services providers.

Prior to the day of the test, questions or concerns can be addressed to Mark Andrews at mandrews@amherst.edu.

Contact the Service Center at 413-542-2254 (x2254) for any facility-related matters during and after the outages. For emergencies, contact ACPD Dispatch at 413-542-2111 (x2111).

This timeline is only an approximation. It is difficult to provide precise times due to the complexity of the work being performed.

• There may be intermittent power interruptions (“blips”) throughout the morning.
• 6:00 a.m.—The campus will be disconnected from the utility grid and connected to the new power generation system. The outage will last approximately 90 minutes.
• 7:30 a.m.—Power restored to all buildings. A series of equipment tests will be performed.
• 10:00–11:30 a.m.—When testing concludes, the campus will be disconnected from the new power generation system and connected to the utility grid. An email notification will be sent 10 minutes prior to this outage. The outage will last approximately 30-60 minutes.
• Normal Power—When the campus has been reconnected to the utility grid and no further power interruptions are expected, a final email notification will be sent.
• If communication is required during the outages, we will use the AC Alert system.

These impacts apply to all buildings, with exceptions for specific buildings identified below.

• Life safety systems (e.g. exit signs, emergency lights, fire alarms) will remain functional at all times.
• Elevators will not work throughout the morning and appropriate signage will be posted.
• Access control (exterior door card readers) will continue to operate.
• Power outlets and most lights will be out.
• Hot water, heating and cooling will not work.
• Land line phone service, WiFi and network access will be very limited.

Exceptions for Appleton, Greenway, James, King, Morrow, North, South, Stearns, Weiland, Williston

• Hot water, heating and cooling will continue to operate.

Exceptions for Beneski & Science Center

• The SBLAB standby power outlets will remain powered throughout the test but will experience two brief outages of less than 10 seconds each. 
• Ventilation system will continue to operate.
• Temperature control systems will continue to operate.
• Stand-by power outlets will come back on after brief outages.
• Processed chilled water will be off-line during the two outages.

Exceptions for Converse

• The IT infrastructure is designed with uninterruptible power systems and back-up generators and is designed to operate through power interruptions.
• Designated circuits in the IT data center will be transferred to the Arms generator.
• Cooling and IT will continue to operate.

Exceptions for Valentine

• Brief interruptions of less than 10 seconds for all power systems, otherwise full power throughout.

Buildings West of Route 116 and North of Route 9

• There will be no change in power.
• Land line phone service and some network services that rely on the campus grid maybe interrupted.

For those who will be on campus tomorrow, please:

• Be flexible! The timeline below is only a rough approximation of the complex work that is being performed.
• Use the mid-morning power outage (approximately 30-60 minutes) as an opportunity to go for a walk or stop by Val, where there will be complimentary coffee/tea available during the outage. Val will have power throughout the day and will be open for breakfast from 8-9:30 a.m. and lunch from 12-2 p.m.
• Save your work frequently if using a desktop computer. Power interruptions ("blips") can be expected.

Also, we ask that evereyone...

• Save any work in progress and shut down computing devices at the end of the day today. (Please see the the November 15 message from IT for details.)

At the end of the day on Monday, November 19, or a prior day if you will not be on campus on November 19:

• Save any existing documents you may have open. Shut down (turn off) any computers you regularly use. If you use a laptop computer, turn it off completely and remove it from the dock or disconnect it from the display. Turn off any displays and printers you use.
• Make sure any laptops and mobile devices you use are fully charged for the next day.

On Tuesday, November 20:

• After 7:30 a.m. (approximate time)—Once we receive notification that power is available, you may power up the primary computer at your desk. If you use a laptop, you may dock it or plug it to the display, if you use one. You may turn on any displays and printers you use. Save any existing work often throughout the day.
• At 9:50 a.m.—Save any existing documents you may have open. Shut down the primary computer at your desk. If you use a laptop, you may remove it from the dock, or disconnect it from any displays you use but you may keep using it through the power outage as it will receive power from the built-in battery. Turn off any displays and printers you use.
• 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.—Network connectivity (wired and wireless access) and access to any technology service, including access to services within campus and over the Internet, and card access may be affected. If you work on a laptop computer or any other mobile device during this time, please save your work often and you may need to save it locally on the internal storage of the device during the power outage.
• After 11:30 a.m. (approximate time)—Once we receive final notification that normal power has been restored, you may start up the primary computer at your desk. If you use a laptop, you may dock it or plug it into the display, if you use one. You may turn on any displays and printers you use.

Although we have backup power for key services, they are meant to sustain the systems during short power interruptions only and we expect some services to be affected, such as wireless connectivity and card systems such as door access with the Amherst ID. Power cycling can be stressful, particularly for older hardware, and we could experience service interruptions as we bring these systems back online. We plan to shut down some services before the power outage and will bring them back online to minimize the risk of encountering unexpected issues. 

Please contact us at AskIT@amherst.edu or 413-542-2526, if you have any questions or concerns.