A new electrical power distribution infrastructure is currently under installation on campus. The $22-million project, which has three phases, will eventually replace 16 miles of dual distribution systems operated by Southern California Edison and UCSB with one system.

When this phase is complete, the improved system will have a new fiber optics communications cable backbone, owned and run by the campus. The modular design and automated equipment will “greatly improve the overall reliability of the campus’s electrical distribution system,” said senior electrical engineer David McHale, physical facilities project manager.

Approximately 100 buildings will have to change over to the new system. This will require replacement of these buildings’ main transformers and switchgear to use the more powerful system safely, observes McHale.

Between January and mid-July, replacements are planned for around 40 buildings. When necessary, large emergency portable generators will be used for varying lengths of time during replacement to keep a building powered up. Expect some brief periods of lost power during the switchovers, warns McHale.