Power Outages on Main Campus; Will We Ever Find Out Why?
Becca Boynton | October 6, 2022
On Sept. 13, students and faculty alike were struck with a major inconvenience. A loud boom was heard near Kittredge and power immediately went out. While for new students and staff this was rare and alarming, this was not the first time Warren Wilson College (WWC) residents experienced such a disruption — not even the first time that month.
Not much is known as to the source of these outages. The affected areas included Kitteridge, Jensen and Sunderland, where a majority of WWC freshmen reside. Few classes were forced to move locations or cancel classes outright.
Interim President Bill Christy stated in an email on Aug. 28 that Duke Power (WWC’s sole source of energy) arrived promptly the next day to restore power. However, Lili Jones, a freshman at WWC, claimed the outages lasted much longer.
“The first time, the power was out for two and a half days,” Jones said. “It was completely out for a little bit, and then it came on and my roommate’s side of the room had power, but my side didn’t.”
Rumors have circulated around WWC campus concerning the source of the outages, but nothing has been verified by faculty.
No additional outages have occurred since Sept. 13. Regardless, numerous residents are now stuck with a fear future outages may occur. For now, these outages may be seen as a moment of the past.