A mechanism for changing ownership over the physical power to a blade server in a blade center chassis that prevents a malfunctioning blade from jeopardizing other components in the chassis. When the management module is not present, control over power to the blade is switched to a service processor on the blade. This arbitration of control over power to a blade is accomplished by implementing a watchdog timer mechanism. The management module is responsible for tickling the watchdog timer when the present in the chassis and operating normally. This mechanism provides the management module with control over power. If the management module malfunctions or is removed, control over power is switched to the local service processor on the blade server as soon as the watchdog timer is not tickled.