Rutgers Power Outage: 90 Buildings Affected, 39 Dorms, 3,000 Students

Rutgers - Rutgers may be ranked one of the top 25 best public schools in the nation, but they're having some serious trouble keeping the lights on.

As many as 90 buildings, including 39 dorms, on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus have been plagued by power outages for the past two days. These are repeat power outages: As Patch reported, the power went out Tuesday morning, was restored at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, only to go out again just before 9 a.m. Wednesday. All non-residential buildings on the Cook/Douglass campuses have been shut down until 10 p.m. Wednesday night, the university said in a statement. There are approximately 3,000 students who live on those campuses; arrangements have been made to provide temporary housing as well as transportation for them, the school said.

As of this time, there is no estimate as to when power will be restored.

"My daughter lives in Newell apartments on Cook/Douglass. She said there is no power in her dorm today and that yesterday the power was spotty," the mother of one Rutgers student told Patch. "As a result, she couldn't finish her homework, can't cook as stoves are electric, and will probably have to throw out everything in their refrigerator. All apartments are without power."

Last year, students in the Newell apartments had so many outages that they received a partial housing refund, she said. Rutgers did not answer when asked by Patch if that was being offered again this year.

All classes held at Cook and Douglass were canceled Wednesday, and all student centers, health centers, recreational centers and dining halls are closed until further notice, Rutgers executive vice president for strategic planning and operations Antonio Calcado said in an email sent to students.