One week before classes were scheduled to begin at Murray State, the main campus went black.
The Tennessee Valley Authority ordered the University to shut off the power on campus Jan. 6, as part of an interruptible service contract with Murray State.
Power was back on amid temperatures in the single digits at around 9 p.m.
Catherine Sivills, assistant vice president for communications, said the University has a category-five, medium-risk customer contract.
This means the University has to cut the power when extremely cold temperatures cut across TVA’s service region.
Crews from Facilities Management found generator malfunctions and damage, all caused by extremely cold temperatures Jan. 7.
The crews found damage in at least 40 percent of the major buildings on campus.
Some of the damage included flooding on the sixth floor of Regents Residential College, leaky ceilings in the Old Fine Arts Building and significant impairment to heating systems in the Business Building North.
Kim Oatman, chief Facilities Management officer, said most of the damage on campus was due to pipes freezing, primarily in some of the older buildings on campus.
He said Facilities Management will take care of the piping issues, but a contractor will have to come in for damage caused to sprinkler systems in some of the buildings.
The 37 students who were still on campus during the power outage were moved to the Sid Easley Alumni Center.
By Jan 7., they had been moved back into the residential colleges after power was restored.
Heat and water were also restored in College Courts Jan. 7.
Oatman said the interruptible service agreement has been in effect since 2010 and it is a five-year contract.
He said the University received a credit from TVA of approximately $300,000 – $400,000.
With the savings from TVA, Oatman said the University purchased the generator in case of a power outage or severe weather.
He isn’t sure of the cost damages will have on the University so far or how much it will cost to fix the generator.
Students were able to move in to the residential colleges Sunday as scheduled.
David Wilson, director of residential life, said he could not comment on the condition of the flooded rooms in a few residential colleges on campus.
Facilities Management also provided 31 small space heaters for the staff in Business Building North to use in their classrooms and offices since the damage from the power outage affected some of the heating in some parts of the building.
Oatman sent an email last week stating he encouraged staff to keep all classroom doors open at all times so the corridor heat can be distributed.
“We are hopeful that the above actions will carry us through the three to four week period while waiting for the coils to be replaced,” Oatman said. “Next week’s forecast is fairly moderate, so it will be a good time to try this and see if it works.”
He said if he sees the plan not working or if outside temperatures get too cold, then he will look into running more circuits from the basement to the upper floors to power more temporary heaters. The last resort, he said, would be to cancel classes in those rooms.
Staff Report