Power plant failure impacts Kent campus

Jacob Byk

Kent State University’s Power Plant experienced a temporary valve failure Tuesday, which caused the university’s heating, cooling and water pressure to operate at a lowered capacity for 9 hours.

The problem was fixed by approximately 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, more than a day earlier than originally announced in a press release.

The original estimation for maintenance was from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m..

Residence halls as well as the Student Recreation and Wellness Center were directly affected by cooler than usual showers.

“It had the largest impact early in the morning,” said Eric Mansfield, executive director of University Media Relations. “We had planned on fixing the pre-existing problem in the spring, but decided to take advantage of it with the warm week.”

The valve failure cost the plant approximately $2,000 dollars to fix, but was already factored into its annual maintenance budget, Mansfield said.

“We’re glad it wasn’t longer,” he said.

Contact Jacob Byk at

KSU spokesman, Eric Mansfield spoke with TV2 Reporter Courtney Citro regarding the valve failure.

tv2 Video

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Contact Courtney Citro at