This fall semester, Tulane University will begin the installation of two permanent backup generators on the Uptown campus. Substantial portions of construction will continue through February 2023. 

Dani Galloway, associate vice president of facilities at Tulane, emphasized the crew’s purpose in installing backup generators. 

“In order to best support our living, learning and research communities on the Uptown and Downtown campus, Tulane Campus Services and our energy partner Bernhard are working to create redundant power structures in the event of municipal outages,” Galloway said in an email.  

Installations are ongoing on both the Uptown and Downtown campuses and aim to supply power to critical buildings and facilities in the event of a local power outage. 

There will be two large, three megawatt generators installed on the Uptown campus next to the central power plant at the corner of Willow Street and Audubon Street. Given the locations, Galloway said she does not anticipate disruption to students. 

Presently on campus there are twelve generators as well as a cogenerator system. 

According to Galloway, these generators “support select Uptown buildings but not the entire campus.” In the event of an outage, those generators provided lighting, HVAC and electrical outlet power in residence halls, some academic buildings, the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life and the Commons. 

The new installations will expand generator power to the majority of the Uptown campus. 

The work hours for this project are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Though no significant disruption is anticipated, students and faculty can expect traffic delays near the intersection of Willow Street and Audubon Street.