Ximena Solorzano, Staff Photographer

Around noon on Monday, Yale experienced a power outage that lasted approximately ten minutes.

The outage was caused by a short circuit between Yale’s central power plant and the United Illuminating Company, according to Samuel Olmstead, director of Utilities and Campus Resiliency of Yale Facilities. The power outage affected buildings on central campus — including Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray colleges — and the lower Hillhouse area, but did not impact Science Hill, Olmstead wrote.

“Shortly after noon on February 10, the power feed from United Illuminating to Yale’s Central Power Plant went down unexpectedly due to a short circuit,” Olmstead wrote in an email to the News. “Yale’s high voltage team was able to act quickly and restore power to campus within 10 minutes.”

Yale’s Central Power Plant is one of three power plants maintained by Yale. Constructed in 1918, the plant provides electricity, steam and chilled water to most buildings on the central campus.

Since 1998, the plant has operated on a co-generation model where steam from boiling water for heating buildings is used to generate electricity. Yale can purchase power from the utility company if needed, and the Central Plant can supply backup power for Yale if the utility company grid fails.

Students interviewed by the News reported slight disturbances to their courses and exams.

Jake Robbins ’28 was taking a weekly online quiz for “Biochemistry and Biophysics,” or BIOL 101 in William L. Harkness Hall, when the outage shut down Yale WiFi. Robbins recalled the lights flickering briefly and students who were taking the quiz via a WiFi connection being disconnected. All students ended up receiving full credit for the quiz.

Abigail Murphy ’27 was taking an exam for “Biology, the World, and Us,” or MCDB 105, in Davis Auditorium when the outage occurred.

“It was about halfway through the exam when the lights went out,” Murphy told the News. “I thought someone turned off the lights, but my friend texted me saying there was a power outage after [the exam].”

Murphy said that the disruption was minimal, and the teaching assistants who were administering the exam were not extremely strict about the time limit.

“To be totally honest, it was kind of cool because it was a completely dark auditorium. It was like a moment of peace in the exam.” Murphy said.

Yale’s Central Power Plant is located at 120 Tower Parkway.