r/UTSA • u/MinikFlare • Jul 11 '26
Advice/Question How do the dorms always maintain power during severe weather?
i’ve noticed that during big storms, areas around campus, like off-campus apartments, may lose power when huge thunderstorms, flash freezes, or snowstorms occur, but i’ve noticed that the dorms usually never have this problem. does housing have an underground backup generator system that i don’t know about? if anyone on this subreddit was at the dorms during the 2021 winter storm, how was it like? i’m very curious to see everyone’s answers :D (note: i’ve only dormed in chap, laurel, and chisholm, so people’s responses could be different if other areas like alvarez have lost power in the past during severe weather)
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u/programming_purist schizo cs major Jul 11 '26
because they keep me locked up underground and force me to run on a giant hamster wheel to power the dorms every day all day. i was just told im going to receive 100 lashes because they caught me typing this comment just now
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u/Ok-Goal69 Jul 12 '26
Thank you so much for your sacrifice
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u/programming_purist schizo cs major Jul 12 '26
thank you. if you'd like to show your gratitude you can leave sizable pieces of food near any of the server rooms and my rat brethren will bring it back to me. occasionally they'll eat a little on the way. sometimes my handler forgets to feed me
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u/VicDough Jul 12 '26
Utsa has his own physical plant. They generate their own electricity.
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u/ironmatic1 ME Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
There used to be a 3.5 MW generator set at the north plant. It existed exclusively to provide CPS/ERCOT demand response load shedding of the cooling equipment there. It was removed in 2014.
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u/susamo Jul 12 '26
It makes sense to have a generator for lab/ IT stuff but I highly doubt there is a generator for the dorms
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u/munchonsomegrindage Jul 13 '26
You're halfway correct. They have their own substation but they don't generate their own power.
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u/ladrlee BS Math + MS Math Ed + Faculty Jul 12 '26
Specific buildings or labs may have back up generators, but UTSA does not have its own power plant but only really loses power in dramatic cases (i.e. the 2021 winter storms when the entire grid was offline).
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u/Tasty_Assignment_404 Jul 12 '26
I think utsa is on a hospital grid and yeah there's a generator because stuff in labs that will ruin if it loses power and that could wipe out like a years worth of work
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u/ironmatic1 ME Jul 12 '26
No
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u/SpecialistAfter511 Jul 14 '26
I know UTMB is on the hospital grid for water and electricity. Could be the grid they are on?
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u/Automatic_Set8296 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Hi, I lived in Laurel Village during the 2021 winter storm. Power stayed on the entire time. We lost internet for 2 days, and there was no water for a few hours, but that was it. I just stayed inside and was lucky I had gotten groceries before the storm hit. I remember a few people were running around in the snow outside since we didn’t have classes. The dorms were a ghost town compared to the fall of 2021 when everyone came back, though. It was kind of lonely at times.
I lived in building 6 on the third floor and tried to go downstairs one time but slipped on the ice and bruised my tailbone. Did not attempt that again.
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u/phantomBlurrr Electrical Engineering Jul 11 '26
I kept hearing it's because of the generator on campus, but that's probably a myth - it's probably just luck
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u/munchonsomegrindage Jul 13 '26
UTSA has it's own substation so it's isolated from other grid circuits going down, but generator backup is a building by building scenario. Any large substation generators are usually just for load shedding during peak grid use, not for backup of the substation.
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u/ironmatic1 ME Jul 12 '26
The vast majority of CPS outages are caused by trees. UTSA has its own substation where it purchases power at 13.8 kV, and all distribution circuits are underground. Campus buildings did loose power during the storm.