Power has been restored to most of Michigan State University’s East Lansing campus, but hot water and steam problems are still disrupting campus operations Monday morning.
MSU’s latest universitywide update remains the plan announced Sunday. Classes on the East Lansing campus are online and most employees are working remotely through 11 p.m. Monday.
Here’s what students, employees and visitors need to know:
- East Lansing classes remain online through 11 p.m. Monday. The change applies only to the East Lansing campus.
- Most employees are working remotely where possible through 11 p.m. Monday. Employees with questions about their responsibilities are being told to contact their supervisors.
- Power has been restored to most of campus, but steam and hot water service remain affected in residence halls, academic buildings and dining facilities.
- Roughly 80% of campus building square footage relies on steam for hot water. MSU says condensation built up in the steam distribution system during the extended outage.
- Dining service remains available, although MSU says operations have been adapted during the disruption.
- Campus events and activities are being handled on a case-by-case basis.
- The MSU Veterinary Medical Center is closed Monday because it still lacks access to key communications systems and infrastructure. All Monday appointments are being rescheduled. The center says it currently expects those systems to be restored by the end of Monday.
What caused the outage?
MSU says a central connection point, or power bus, failed at the T.B. Simon Power Plant on Saturday. The failure cut off power needed by the plant and stopped it from generating electricity and steam for the East Lansing campus.
The power plant’s steam distribution network connects to more than 100 MSU buildings. Crews have been working to restore incoming power from Consumers Energy and bring the plant back online. MSU said Sunday the plant was partially back online.
University crews are continuing work to restore steam and hot water service.
Researchers have also been advised to check temperature-sensitive samples, equipment, long-running experiments and computer systems that may have been affected by the outage.