Lights out, classes cancelled at Okanagan College in Vernon

The students can’t attend classes if the lights aren’t on and that was the situation first thing Thursday morning at Okanagan College in Vernon.

“The college closed at 8:30,” said spokesperson Melissa Munn. “We sent notices to faculty, staff and students to check social media for when the college would reopen.”

The problem was equipment failure on a nearby 25,000 volt BC Hydro distribution line.

“It’s a problem with a re-closer. It and other equipment needs to be replaced,” said company spokesperson Dag Sharman.

The priority for repair crews was getting electrical service restored to the college.

“We switched routing of the power to the college so we could get the college back on. And then we worked to resolve the original problem. But re-routing the power is itself a challenging job,” said Sharman.

With the lights back on, so too were classes at the college.

“Once we were sure everything was good to go we sent out social media announcements and emails to students to let them know the campus was reopening as of 11:30 this morning,” said Munn.

About 200 homes in Vernon’s commonage area were still without electricity late Thursday afternoon due to the equipment failure as crews worked through snowy weather on a hillside to make the repairs.