Organizers plan for Super Bowl power outage - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Super Bowl planners are worrying about weather, traffic and security - but what about electricity?

The Indianapolis Colts have lost games, but they've never lost power. But what if there is an electrical failure and the lights go out on 70,000 Super Bowl fans?

"The reliability and the duplicity of the power services in this facility was well-designed and well-engineered," said Barney Levengood, executive director of the Capital Improvement Board.

Lucas Oil Stadium gets its power from two separate electrical lines, connected to two large and separate power transformers. If they fail, two emergency generators can supply five million watts of electricity. That's a lot, but not enough power for a building this big.

"We would not be able to continue the game, but we would be able to maintain all of the fans' key safety issues," Levengood said.

Levengood says fans could stay in their seats for a short time. If there's a long outage, there would be enough light for them to safely leave the stadium.

Right across the street, the Indiana Convention Center is going to be home to the NFL Experience. It has similar emergency power systems and safety plans.

Underground fires and exploding manhole covers prompted an investigation into Indianapolis Power and Light and the reliability of the downtown power grid. IPL says it is installing explosion-proof manhole covers and will have repair crews on duty during the Super Bowl, trying to ensure Indianapolis' moment in the spotlight isn't a dark one.