Off-Campus Equipment Failure Linked to Recent On-Campus Power Outage

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Southwestern Electric Power Co. has determined the cause of the campuswide power outage Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 13. SWEPCO provides all electrical power to the University of Arkansas. A SWEPCO spokesman says the outage occurred at 4:11 p.m. when an underground conductor failed at the point where it connects to the overhead electric system serving most of the campus. The underground conductor and other equipment were severely damaged.  

U of A Facilities Management is working with SWEPCO to develop strategies to prevent this type of equipment failure in the future and will be looking at any capital investments required to support that effort.

After the full extent of the equipment damage was determined Tuesday, SWEPCO crews notified Facilities Management that it would take them several hours to make repairs and restore power. Facilities crews immediately went to work switching the campus to the alternative backup feeder system and electrical power was restored to the entire campus by about 7:30 p.m. SWEPCO crews completed their repairs about five hours later.

As a result of the outage and the switch to the backup system, a brief planned power outage that had been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19, has been canceled.

At some point in the future, the campus will need to be switched back to its primary system. The timing of that decision will be discussed by the Utility Operations Coordination Committee and a recommendation will be referred to campus leadership for their review and final approval.

Unscheduled outages of this magnitude and severity are rare, but they do highlight the need for proactive risk management and recovery strategies relative to the campus mission. Anyone with questions about the outage, what steps can be taken to reduce risk or improve operational resiliency is encouraged to contact Facilities Management.