At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Wednesday, the unthinkable happened: There was a power outage. The glittering lights, the myriad laptops, the enormous TVs—they all went dark.
Daily Dot technology reporter Phillip Tracy was on site at the Las Vegas Convention Center when it happened.
“I was on the Samsung tour getting a look at the booth, the power went off, and then immediately after that a generator kicked on, so some of the lights turned on,” Tracy said.
Electronics like TVs stayed off. Samsung quickly filed the tour group out of its booth and then blocked it off.
Thirty minutes into the blackout, staff at the convention center said that they are aware of the power outage, investigating it, and working on a fix. Initially, some folks seemed on edge—especially given past events in Las Vegas—but so far it just seems that the trade show finally succeeded in overloading the Las Vegas power grid.
It is unclear what the real cause of the outage is, and attendees have mostly been moved out into the hallways of the convention center.
Most are taking the disruption in stride—at least on social media.
https://twitter.com/TheTechGinger/status/951174021156020224
there's a power outage at #CES2018 convention halls and i am no longer sure if we're at CES or Fyre Festival
— Natt การุณรังษีวงศ์ (@nattgarun) January 10, 2018
.@intel just had a violinist serenade the dark crowd to a thunderous ovation. Shades of the Titanic here. Women and children will be led to light first. #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/UiPXMGZVbz
— Manouk Akopyan (@ManoukAkopyan) January 10, 2018
VERY RELATED NEWS: I had a dream last night I caused a power outage by saying 'Okay Google' in the convention hall because all the smart toasters and stuff turned on at the same time.
— Napier Lopez (@napilopez) January 10, 2018
Tracy noted that people seem relaxed and that there isn’t a big security presence.
It’s interesting to note what things seem to be connected to the generator, like some of the CES signage, and what isn’t. Any tech being shown off at the show that requires an outlet isn’t operational.
Hopefully it won’t be long before CES staff can identify the source of the issue and get the lights back on at the world’s biggest technology conference.
Update 6:39pm CT, Jan. 10: The CES blackout was caused by “condensation from heavy rainfall” on a transformer at the Las Vegas Convention Center, convention authorities said in a statement Wednesday. Power was restored to the convention center after two hours.