Power restored to campus after six-hour outage

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — The Stephen F. Austin State University campus was without power for approximately six hours after a main circuit breaker failed Tuesday. The failure occurred around 6 p.m., and Oncor Electric crews and university personnel restored power to campus just before midnight.

The failure initially caused an outage in areas surrounding campus, including North Street, University Drive and Appleby Sand Road. Power was restored to the off-campus areas within the hour.

“Crews were able to restore power to campus by temporarily bypassing the failed part,” said Lee Brittain, director of SFA’s physical plant. “The new equipment needed to make permanent repairs will be delivered to campus and installed soon. When that repair occurs, it will be necessary to once again shut down power for a short period of time while the permanent repair is being made.”

Brittain said the work would be planned at a time to be least disruptive to the campus community.

“We will provide advance notifications to ensure that no one should be caught off guard,” Brittain said.

To help accommodate SFA students, the university opened the new Residence Life Operations facility on University Drive, which was powered by a generator, providing a place for students to gather. SFA’s Jack Track shuttle service added the facility as a stop on its route to provide safe transportation to students.

Outdoor portable lights also were set up in areas across campus.