Power has been restored across the Michigan State University campus following an outage on Sept. 19, 2026. Steam and hot water services remain impacted and will take additional time to be fully restored. Check this page daily for the latest operational updates, resources and guidance for students, faculty and staff.
4:30 p.m. Sept. 21: MSU leaders provide power plant update, answer questions
Michigan State University President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., was joined by campus leaders today at a news conference to provide an update on progress and share the status of campus operations following a widespread power outage over the weekend.
“Our facilities and utility teams have made significant progress over the past 48 hours,” said Guskiewicz. “Restoring systems across a campus of Michigan State University’s size and complexity requires a phased approach to ensure that buildings can safely and reliably return to normal operations. We know the inconvenience and disruption caused by the outage and the resulting conditions on campus, and I want to assure the campus community that we are working as quickly and as diligently as possible to fully restore normal operations.”
The ongoing phases of restoration to steam, hot water and temperature systems are driven by the underlying infrastructure. Reintroduction of these systems, which could take up to a week, requires work to be completed first from east to west across campus, then focusing from south of the Red Cedar River as it travels through north campus. As systems are restored, some buildings may need additional cleanup and maintenance, which will require more time to ensure consistent service and appropriate building conditions. Read the full news release here.
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3:45 p.m. Sept. 21: President Guskiewicz provides campus restoration update
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12:45 p.m. Sept. 21: MSU to hold news conference regarding power plant, campus operations
MSU will hold a news conference regarding Saturday’s widespread power outage on campus and how the university is working to address some of the cascading impacts to the campus community. University leadership will be available to address questions from the media.
Speakers:
Date/time: 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21.
Location: The news conference will be held in the atrium of the Henry Center for Executive Development at 3535 Forest Road, Lansing, Michigan, 48910.
MSU encourages remote classes, work amid campus hot water disruption
Due to a recent power outage, Michigan State University is without hot water across the majority of campus, and the university is encouraging remote classes for students and remote work for most employees on its East Lansing campus beginning today at 9 a.m. and continuing through Monday, Sept. 21, at 11 p.m.
On Sept. 19, a problem was identified with a power bus, which is a central connection point at the T. B. Simon Power Plant on campus. This resulted in a loss of connection to necessary power supplied to the power plant, halting the ability of the plant to generate electricity and steam to campus buildings. MSU experienced a campuswide power outage that lasted several hours. During the outage, MSU deployed generators across campus to support safety, security and emergency response operations. Read more.
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Read the full community message from President Kevin M. Guskiewicz
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Update: MSU working to restore power
Michigan State University has experienced a failure at the T.B. Simon Power Plant that supplies power to campus. The source of the failure has been identified, and crews are diligently working to repair the issue.
The T.B. Simon Power Plant produces electricity and steam power for campus. Once the power plant comes back online, power is methodically restored to all buildings and campus facilities over a period of time. The university is optimistic that power will be restored by the morning. Read more.
The outage occurred on Sept. 19 around 4:15 p.m.
Urgent requests: Contact IPF at 517-353-1760 instead of sending an email or online ticket. Urgent requests include life safety, water leaks, broken windows or doors, or similar items that should be addressed within 24 hours. Life safety requests include items that involve human/animal life safety, research impacts, or facility damage.
MSU Union is open regular hours:
Building heat is not currently operating in some residence halls as systems are brought back online. Students should be mindful of outside temperatures when opening windows.
MSU IT continues to monitor and support technology services as the university recovers from Saturday’s campus power outage. Many systems and applications are available, but some services may experience intermittent availability, temporary disruptions or inconsistent performance while campus infrastructure continues to stabilize.
President Guskiewicz on Sunday sent a letter to staff, faculty and students announcing MSU is transitioning to online classes and remote work, where possible, starting at 9 a.m. Sunday and lasting through Monday evening at 11 p.m. and are limited to the East Lansing campus only.
The Provost Office will be working with deans and faculty to adjust courses, and encouraging flexibility related to class assignments that will be impacted by the weekend power outage or the transition to online formats. If you have questions about how this impacts your college or unit, please reach out to the provost, executive vice president for administration, or President Guskiewicz.
Students have been notified that courses will be shifting to online instruction and we encourage you to reach out to your students via email and/or D2L to notify them of your own course adjustments and plans. If you need assistance with the transition to online learning, contact the Information Technology Service Desk. If you are unable to move your class online, please ensure you contact your students to update them on your plans.
MSU HR is encouraging remote work for employees per the President's message, but final decisions are made at the supervisor level.
If you have information about emergency situations or crimes on campus, please contact the Michigan State University Department of Police & Public Safety at 517-355-2221, or 911 for emergencies/crimes in progress. If you would like to relay a non-emergency crime tip, you may do so by texting the word MSUDPPS, along with your message to 274637.
Register to receive emergency text messages, emails and phone calls.
The Emergency Management Team is responsible for all facets of crisis response.
EAP is a confidential, free counseling service for employees. 517-432-0155.
Resources for RVSM, discrimination issues
The university provides resources tailored to a variety of groups on campus.
Counseling & Psychiatry Services
CAPS is the place for students seeking help for a wide range of health concerns.
MSU provides update on power outage
Michigan State University has identified the cause of the power outage affecting campus and is actively working to restore power.
The university does not yet have an estimated time for power to be restored and anticipates it may still be hours until campus is fully restored. As a result of the power outage, those on campus may be experiencing an impact to cellular service across all carriers. The university is actively communicating with cellular providers to alleviate the issue, including Verizon Wireless that is working to bring mobile units to campus to improve service. Read more.
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MSU issues statement on widespread power outage
Michigan State University is currently experiencing a widespread power outage. MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities (IPF) is working to quickly identify and diagnose the issue. Aside from the power outage, there is no threat to campus. Read more.
We know that the outage on campus was widespread, impacting many of the university's academic buildings and residence and dining halls.
A problem was identified with a power bus, which is a central connection point at the T. B. Simon Power Plant on campus. This resulted in a loss of connection to necessary power supplied to the power plant, halting the ability of the plant to generate electricity and steam to campus buildings.
MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities immediately began working to identity the cause while assessing the impact of the outage. As a result of the outage, MSU began deploying light towers at various intersections across campus. Generators were also used to support safety, security, and emergency response operations. Patrol officers with the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety were available throughout campus and connected with campus neighborhood staff for support.
The outage resulted in multiple cellular carriers being impacted. The university was in communication with providers to help alleviate the issue. Verizon Wireless brought in mobile units to help improve service. Community members were encouraged to move toward or outside campus boundaries where there was better reception.
The T.B. Simon Power Plant converts energy from natural gas into steam and electricity, which is used for building functions such as heating and cooling. Steam for use in HVAC and electric power are transmitted through a steam distribution network, which connects to more than 100 MSU buildings.
As a consequence of the extended outage, condensation built up in the steam distribution system, affecting the ability to deliver hot water to campus. Roughly 80% of the square footage of buildings on MSU’s campus rely on steam for hot water, including residence halls and dining facilities.
The process to fully restore hot water campus wide will take several days and will be done in a methodical, phased approach. The university will be providing a daily update to the campus community on what buildings have had hot water restored as well as the buildings that are anticipated to have hot water the following day.
The water in the system and the water that will be delivered once the hot water is restored is all safe
The power bus failure also damaged equipment that connects campus to the external electrical grid. As a result, power could not simply be transferred from an external utility until system assessments and repairs were completed.
Most of campus receives electricity and steam from the T.B. Simon Power Plant, which serves as the primary utility source for campus.
Supplemental electricity is provided by on-campus solar generation and a backup connection to the external electrical grid.
Steam produced at the T.B. Simon Power Plant is distributed across campus and supports heating, cooling, domestic hot water, research and sterilization operations.
Some facilities located south of Mt. Hope Road and along the campus perimeter receive utility service from local utility providers rather than the campus utility system.
Yes, but only a limited number of campus facilities have emergency generators. These generators are designed to support critical life-safety and essential building functions, including:
Emergency generators are not intended to power entire buildings or maintain normal operations.
No. The equipment currently under construction is not yet operational and is not connected to the campus electrical distribution system. The outage was unrelated to that project.
Following restoration of services, the university will conduct a comprehensive after-action review to evaluate the incident, identify lessons learned and assess opportunities to strengthen system reliability resilience, and emergency response procedures.
The T.B. Simon Power Plant is operated and maintained by a team of professionals, including operators, engineers, mechanics and technicians who work around the clock to support campus utility services.
MSU has established a Temperature Set Point policy to provide comfort conditions in support of the university’s educational mission while advancing MSU’s energy conservation goals. Spaces on campus vary greatly in age, construction and function, so exceptions will occur.
Space heaters are regulated because they can create system imbalances, overload building electrical circuits, and can use a significant amount of energy. If used improperly, space heaters can also become a fire hazard.
Where space temperatures fall within university guidelines, several low wattage personal heaters have been approved that meet safety and efficiency guidelines. Approved heaters are available through Spartan Marketplace.
MSU Libraries are open regular hours. Click the links below to see hours for libraries across campus:
The Multicultural Center is open regular hours:
Recreation Sports and Fitness services are open regular hours:
Resources available to students include:
Please submit a maintenance request or visit your Primary Service Center as soon as possible to report an issue or request assistance.
Yes. Primary Service Centers are open during their normal business hours. If a center needs to close, updated information — including its hours and directions to the nearest open center — will be posted.
When the university lost power the systems that support the network and cell devices also went down. Both systems are stable now since the power has been stabilized. The data center was able to function through a backup generator which worked as intended through a power failure. All enterprise services are restored and stabilized.
Yes. Dining areas will remain open during their standard operating hours. However, some dining hall equipment relies on steam and is currently unavailable, so menus may be modified until normal operations are restored.
Updates about dining operations, including any changes to hours or menus, will be shared by @EatatState on social media as needed.
Yes. If menu changes are affecting your dietary needs, please speak with a dining hall manager or chef. They will work with you to identify available options.
As power is restored across campus, technology systems and infrastructure are being brought back online and stabilized. Some services may become available before others, and availability may change as recovery efforts continue.
If a service is unavailable, wait a few minutes and try again. Users should expect intermittent availability for some systems and applications while recovery efforts continue. Save your work frequently whenever possible.
The latest status of MSU IT applications and services is available at servicestatus.msu.edu.
MSU HR will be open on Monday, however, employees will be working remotely.
Faculty are encouraged to:
Support services: