Power outage occurs across San Diego, SDSU classes canceled

by Kaitlyn Little, News Editor • November 12, 2019

A firetruck drives along Campanile walkway around 1 p.m. on Nov. 12 during a campus power outage.

Update: Nov. 12, 5:53 p.m.

Power has been returned to most on-campus residential communities except South Campus Plaza North and South, Huāxyacac and Chapultepec, according to a campus-wide email from the Office of Housing Administration. Power is expected to be returned by 8:30 p.m.

There have been various emergency portable restrooms set up around campus due to buildings and floors experiencing low water pressure. University Towers Kitchen, Huāxyacac and Chapultepec food trucks, the Aztec Markets at Huāxyacac, Cuicacalli, East Commons and Aztec Student Union are still open and accepting meal plans.

Update: Nov. 12, 2:20 p.m.

All university classes have now been canceled through today due to the outage, according to SDSU urgent alerts. It is also affecting the water supply. An SDSU spokesperson said they have received reports that toilets aren’t flushing due to low water pressure.

Update: Nov. 12, 2 p.m.

Power has been restored to some areas of campus, including the Education and Business Administration building on the east side of campus. The university has yet to confirm restored power in any other buildings.

SDG&E said it is still working to restore power to about 13,000 customers out of the 24,000 who lost power earlier this afternoon.

Original Story:

San Diego State and various areas of San Diego lost power around noon on Nov. 12.

According to the SDG&E outage map, Kensington, Talmadge, West State College, City Heights, Chollas Creek, Oak Park, Rolando, East State College and La Mesa are part of the outage. 24,000 customers are without power, according to SDG&E Spokesperson Sara Prince.

Biology professor Chris Glembotski meets with his students outside Student Services East due to a campus power outage on Nov. 12.

Classes at SDSU have been canceled until 5 p.m. However, classes not impacted by the outage are still in session, according to SDSU urgent alerts.

Impacted buildings include:

Adams Humanities
Communication
Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union
Dramatic Arts
Education & Business Administration
ENS Annex
Exercise & Nutritional Science
Gateway
Little Theater
Love Library
Music
Parking Garage 1
Parking Garage 4
Peterson Gym
South Campus
Student Services
The Transit Center

The outage was caused by a bird coming into contact with a substation, Prince said. Power is expected to be restored by 4:30 p.m. today.

For more updates surrounding SDSU’s outage, visit urgent.sdsu.edu.

About the Contributors

Kaitlyn Little, News Editor

Kaitlyn is a journalism senior at San Diego State and is pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. She went to a dual enrollment high school where she attended both Academy of the Canyons and College of the Canyons, and currently holds two liberal arts associate's degrees in social sciences and math/science. Follow her on Twitter @kaitlynalittle.

Bella Ross, Editor in Chief

Bella Ross is an SDSU senior double majoring in journalism and political science. She started working at The Daily Aztec in the news section in Fall 2017 and started to make videos for the newspaper in the Spring. She also works as an intern for Voice of San Diego and does some freelance work. In the past, she's worked at KPBS, inewsource and The San Diego Union-Tribune. She is hoping to report on national politics for a large newspaper one day. Follow her on Twitter @BellaMayaRoss.