East Lansing — Michigan State University moved classes online and shifted employees to remote work Sunday after a failure at the T.B. Simon Power Plant left portions of the East Lansing campus without steam and hot water and disrupted cellular service.
The temporary change took effect at 9 a.m. Sunday and is scheduled to remain in place through 11 p.m. Monday, university officials said. The move applies only to the East Lansing campus and is intended to reduce demand on campus systems while crews work to restore full service.
Immediate impact and campus operations
The outage began with a malfunction at the T.B. Simon Power Plant, which supplies both electricity and steam for campus facilities. University officials did not specify the exact time the failure occurred or the precise component that failed. Once the plant was brought back online, buildings and facilities were re-energized in stages.
By 2:52 a.m. Sunday, MSU said power had been restored to the majority of the campus, with crews continuing to bring remaining buildings fully online. The university emphasized that the temporary remote-work and online-class measures were meant to ease demand while restoration work continued.
Support for students in residence halls
Residence-hall operations were adjusted to support students during the disruption. Dining services were adapted to keep food service running despite the loss of steam and hot water in some buildings, the university said. Staff were stationed at residence halls to assist students who could not access buildings, and students were instructed to use main entrances while fixes continued.
Patrol officers with MSU's Department of Police and Public Safety increased their presence across campus. Light towers were positioned at intersections to improve visibility, and drivers were urged to exercise caution. The university also warned that some Green Light emergency phones may not be operational and advised anyone on campus to call or text 911 in an emergency.
Communications and cellular service
Cellular service across all major carriers was affected on campus during the outage. MSU said it was coordinating with providers to improve communications, and at least one carrier, Verizon Wireless, sent mobile units to campus to bolster service.
- 9 a.m. Sunday: Online classes and remote work policy went into effect.
- 2:52 a.m. Sunday: Majority of campus regained power as plant came back online.
- 11 p.m. Monday: Scheduled end of the remote-work and online-class period.
Events and responsibilities handled case by case
The university said events and activities across campus would be handled on a case-by-case basis. Employees with questions about job responsibilities during the disruption were directed to contact their supervisors for guidance.
MSU did not provide additional details about which buildings remained offline after the staged restorations or the timeline for restoring steam and hot water to every facility. Officials also did not identify whether the plant outage affected campus heating systems beyond hot water and steam distribution.
Safety and next steps
Campus crews continued work to bring all systems fully online. University officials emphasized that the actions to move classes online and allow remote work were precautionary measures to reduce strain on infrastructure while technicians completed repairs.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Facility | T.B. Simon Power Plant (electricity and steam) |
| Online/remote period | 9 a.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Monday (East Lansing campus only) |
| Partial power restoration | Majority of campus by 2:52 a.m. Sunday |
| Communications | Cellular service affected; carriers dispatched mobile units |
Students, faculty and staff were advised to monitor official MSU communications for updates on building status, dining operations and the resumption of normal campus activities. University leaders did not release an estimate for when all services, including hot water and emergency-phone functionality, would be fully restored.
As crews continue repair work, the university's priority remains restoring full utility services while maintaining safety and access for residents and personnel on campus.
— Aaliyah Freeman, State Correspondent
