The recent power outages at Cornerstone have been caused by electrical wire that is as old as the university itself.

“Most of the electrical wiring around the campus is 40 or more years old,” said Chris Lowe, head of Campus Services. The most recent power outage at Cornerstone was caused by aging wires.

Lowe said that most of the ground that Cornerstone sits on is clay. The annual freezing during winter caused the ground to shift and allow water through the aged insulation surrounding the wire. This caused a break in the wire and, therefore, a power outage.

“The section that broke has not been fixed yet,” said Lowe. The problem is that the broken piece is under the pond. “It will be very difficult and expensive to block off the pond to get to the break.” Currently, Campus Services has bypassed the broken line.

“The Cornerstone electrical system consists of a three-phase system,” said Lowe. “Each leg delivers 110 volts.” The line that broke under the pond was one of those legs, and the other two parts tried to compensate. This caused the lights to flicker and some to go out. “Everyone and every building was affected to some degree,” said Lowe.

Campus Services had to turn off the power in order to bypass the break in the wire. The campus is now operating normally as administration decides how to fix it.

The university is receiving bids and proposals from a number of companies to fix the break. Lowe said that he expects the repair to cost anywhere from $10,000 to $70,000.

Marc Fowler, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said that in the past the administration discussed how to fix the wiring.

“Two issues pop up every time replacing the wire is discussed,” said Fowler. The question is whether to replace the wiring or to expand it. Fowler said that they have not gone far enough down the planning path to make a decision whether to expand the system or not. “There is no current plan, just indicators,” he said.

Not all the proposals for the repair are in yet. Once Campus Services receives all of the proposals, they will sit down with the administration of Cornerstone and make a decision. They will make a decision based on the current needs of the university. Lowe said that he would like to replace some of the existing wire, especially the worst parts.

The biggest problem in the replacement process, however, is the copper wire. He said that “the building season is gearing up, and right now, copper is at a premium. He said that it would take two to seven weeks before the wire would come in. Fowler said, “The price of copper is going up because of demand from developing countries.”

Fowler said that everything will be taken into consideration. Present finances will be kept in mind, as well as other projects that are competing for university finances. Several alternatives will be looked at to ensure the best decision is made.

The final decision on how to go about the process will be made by President Joe Stowell, Provost Bayard Baylis, and Fowler. Fowler said that they will make the best decision possible with the resources that they have. He said that it is a matter of “how carefully scarce resources are applied to fixing the problem.”