Two major power outages hit multiple Claremont Colleges this fall, disrupting campus operations and raising questions about electrical infrastructure reliability across the consortium.
In a statement to TSL, Chief Communications Officer of The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) Laura Muna-Landa attributed the incidents to damage to an electrical line during construction and a power interruption from Southern California Edison (SCE), the utility company that supplies electricity to the colleges’ shared substation.
On Oct. 12, an outage affected Claremont McKenna College, Scripps College and Pitzer College. Campus Safety issued a notification at 7:05 p.m. that day.
“CFS [Central Facilities Services] has been notified [about the outage] and will work to restore power as soon as possible,” the notification read. “The duration of the power outage is unknown at this time.”
According to Muna-Landa, the October incident was likely caused by an interruption in SCE’s power supply. While most campus buildings transitioned to auxiliary power and got electricity back within minutes, Muna-Landa said separate mechanical issues at the substation “prolonged the outage for a small number of buildings.”
Zach Kwong CM ’27, a residential assistant for CMC’s Auen Hall, said there were several disruptions to residential services during the October outage.
Kwong said he was not in Auen when he began receiving text messages from his residents reporting that the power was out. The electronic room locks had temporarily stopped working, and Wi-Fi services were unavailable for approximately one hour.
Kwong said CMC’s Public Safety staff responded to the access issues and remained near the building throughout the disruption. Several Auen residents said their building lacked power for at least three hours.
At Pitzer, Nicholas Coughlin PZ ’29 said power interruptions only caused brief concern among students before the electricity returned.
“Because the power usually comes back on in five to 20 minutes, it’s not that big of a deal,” Coughlin said.
For some students, however, the Oct. 12 power outage caught them at an unlucky time. Liam Grady PZ ’30 was in an elevator at Pitzer Hall when the power went off.
“The lights shut off and I fell a little bit — maybe a floor, half a floor—but it was a slow fall,” Grady said. “I was just sitting in the dark.”
Campus Security and the Los Angeles Fire Department tried, and failed, to open the elevator door and get Grady out.
“The guy kept asking me if I was claustrophobic and needed to get out now, but I was just kind of chilling in there,” he said.
Only when the power returned an hour and a half later was Grady able to exit the elevator.
Earlier this semester, on Sept. 14, buildings at CMC, Scripps and Harvey Mudd College lost power after a contractor struck an electrical line during construction on the Scripps campus, according to Muna-Landa.
In an initial Campus Safety notification sent that afternoon, they said CFS had confirmed to them that part of the consortium’s electrical distribution system was down.
“It appears that a main electrical line may have been struck, causing the relay to detect a three-phase fault,” the Campus Safety notification read. “CFS staff are actively working to identify the source of the issue.”
The message indicated that power would not be restored “for at least two hours.”
The recent outages follow previous interruptions to electrical services across the consortium over the past few years, including planned shutdowns for infrastructure maintenance and new construction. Muna-Landa emphasized, however, that “neither outage was associated with construction at CMC’s Roberts Campus or Sports Bowl.”
Muna-Landa said CFS has made “extensive repairs and improvements to strengthen system reliability” for the future, including replacing the consortium substation’s aging computer control system.
“The replacement of the substation’s control system in 2026 has improved operational performance and reduced unplanned outages,” Muna-Landa said.
Muna-Landa said TCCS and CFS are committed to strengthen campus systems against power outages.
“We recognize that power interruptions can disrupt academic, residential, and administrative activities,” Muna-Landa said. “CFS continues to prioritize preventive maintenance, infrastructure improvements, and coordination with the colleges to support safe, reliable electrical service throughout the consortium.”
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