Stevenage were left frustrated but safety concerns left officials with no choice but to abandon the home game with Cambridge United - as the Broadhall Way area was hit by a power cut.
Lights went off at the Lamex Stadium at around 7.15pm while the players of both teams were warming up for the League One match.
They were hurried off the pitch but for a while chaos reigned, with the wi-fi and internet connections intermittent at best.
An engineer was summoned and some lights did come back on at 8pm but by then, the likelihood of action had diminished.
Boro manager Steve Evans explained the thinking behind the decision to postpone the game.
He said: "Basically there's a problem with electricity coming into the area, it's not just the stadium, it's been a specific area within Hertfordshire that's been badly affected and we are one of them.
"Even now we're operating with lights on but it's reduced power, it’s 40 per cent of the power that would be out there for a game.
"So obviously there's been lots of consultation with the safety officer, with the match officials and in fairness to the EFL, the heads of the EFL.
"They’ve been on the phone and on a safety aspect, it’s absolutely the right decision, but we are devastated not to be playing.
"It’s a lack of power coming into the stadium and the main feed, and I'm not an electrician so I'm speaking rather dumb if you like, but you can see the shadows on the pitch and you would maybe warm up like that but as the referee says, when it when it comes to [the game, the main power is not there]."
The problems though also hampered the new turnstiles, they need electricity to operate, and it left thousands stuck outside and without information.
Evans said: "The last words I had from one of the senior police officers was there was estimated to be 4,500 outside the ground trying to be contained by a reduced number of police officers compared to normal.
"Normally people are feeding into the ground.
"But we tried our best, we tried everything to get the game on. We've lost this one but it's no one's fault. It's just through the electricity situation."
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