Last week, a power outage occurred on campus on Thursday, October 13 and Sunday October 16. UBC Facilities attributes the power outage to a cable fault which triggered protection devices. This resulted in several high voltage feeders going down and cutting power to some of the buildings on campus. The previous cable fault weakened an already aged section of the remaining cable making it more susceptible to fail. Although testing didn’t identify any potential issues, high voltage cable health can be very illusive—they often simply fail with no notice.
Facilities is currently in the process of a major upgrade to the main campus substation to replace end-of-life equipment. Our teams and project consultants will continue to review the safety relay settings in light of new configuration to determine if any further mitigation can be implemented.
If there are any outstanding Facilities issues related to the recent power outage, please Submit Service Requests in Planon or report it to the Facilities Service Centre (604-822-2173). Complex issues and administrator/emergency contact updates can be directed to your Facilities Manager.