Dear Colleagues,
Important Access Notice: 1050 Arastradero buildings A and B will remain inaccessible for the duration of the power outage. If access is needed, please contact your PI and/or DFA, who will escalate the request to OFPM leadership. Additionally, security personnel will be stationed at the building 24/7 for the duration of the power outage.
The School of Medicine Operations & Maintenance team has been working with our electrical vendor to diagnose and determine the best course of action to restore power to the building.
They estimate that it will take approximately five days to complete the work, including the necessary inspections by the City of Palo Alto (CoPA), until power is fully restored. Expected building power restoration: Monday, the 12th of January.
We will continue to explore options to minimize the length of the outage.
The building’s emergency power generator will continue to operate during the outage. Emergency circuit (red plugs) will continue to be energized. We recommend contacting Workflow at 650-721-2146 and refraining from attempting to move lab equipment to an available red plug, as this could overload the circuit. Workflow will assign an electrician to verify which plugs have available capacity.
SAFETY IMPACT: Researchers should not enter 1050 Arastradero building A or B for the duration of the power outage because critical systems are offline. The laboratories contain biological and chemical hazards and no ventilation will be available to limit hazards in the workplace. Individual rooms that contain liquid nitrogen (Rms A126, A207, A126, A220, B230, B258, M202A) and dry ice (A226, A262, A225, B230, M202A) must not be entered.
The cause of the outage is a result of a short circuit between all three 480V lines leaving the CoPA transformer, entering the building.
We have directed our electrical contractor to replace the connection between the CoPA transformer and the building. They have already begun materials procurement and demolition. The plan is to work continuously until complete.
If you have any questions or concerns about this power outage event or the repair work taking place, please do not hesitate to contact Mark Stewart.
Best regards,
Mark Stewart
Chief Engineer – Facilities Field Services
School of Medicine