Multiple power outages hit campus

A malfunctioning transformer caused a campus-wide power outage Thursday night, forcing buildings to use generators for power.

Power went out at least five times roughly between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. University Police said a TECO transformer broke down and campus would continue to lose power randomly. It is unclear where the transformer is located.

The last time a major portion of campus lost power was in 2003 when a squirrel came into contact with an electricity supply unit. Back then, many buildings didn’t have generators and power was lost for about 40 minutes.

DUI checkpoint planned UP will hold its second on-campus sobriety checkpoint of the semester Saturday from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. The DUI checkpoint in January yielded no arrests. UP, in cooperation with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, has been conducting regular on-campus checkpoint since last fall.