Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced earlier today that it may be asked to turn off power to its customers for one to two hours today through Thursday to ease demand on the state’s power grid because of the heat wave in California.
Should an outage occur, it may make it difficult for employees working remotely to do their jobs. The campus recognizes this impact. If you lose power at your remote worksite, please notify your supervisor and they will provide direction.
This possible outage is not related to wildfire danger. PG&E has a list of frequently asked questions about the possible outages.
If our main campus loses power, some parts of campus should remain online, powered by our cogeneration plant. Those buildings not on the cogen plant feed have backup generators in place to supply emergency lighting. Several buildings would be completely without power. Campus officials are currently working on various contingency plans depending on what unfolds.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s electric grid, has called on all utilities in California to participate in these planned outages, so other UC Santa Cruz sites may be affected, including the Scotts Valley Center, Coastal Science Campus, and the Silicon Valley Center.
As additional information becomes available from PG&E, the campus community will be updated.
