Failure to Provide Emergency Power During Generator Outage
Penalty
Summary
The facility experienced a failure of its emergency generator during a utility power outage, resulting in a loss of power to the building. The generator initially failed on March 30, 2025, at approximately 7:00 PM, leaving the building without power until staff were able to restart the generator at 8:24 PM. The facility identified the cause of the failure as an issue with the generator's computer board and placed an emergency order for repair parts with their generator contractor. On April 1, 2025, the generator contractor arrived onsite to perform repairs, which required the generator to be shut down. During this planned shutdown, the building was again left without power from approximately 10:50 AM until 1:00 PM, when the generator was fixed and power was restored. Despite being aware of the need for a planned shutdown, the facility did not secure a temporary backup generator to maintain emergency power during this period. Review of facility policies and interviews with the Administrator and Maintenance Director confirmed that the facility's procedures required securing a backup generator in the event of a primary generator failure. However, the facility failed to follow this policy during the planned repair shutdown, resulting in the building being without emergency power for over two hours.