Building a Better Infrastructure

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

I know that many of you have been affected in one way or another by the power outages across campus during the past months, so I wanted to take the opportunity to share some insight into this matter with you all.

Before I discuss recent incidents pertaining to the electrical infrastructure of the university, I would like to thank the dedicated staff members who work in the Facilities Division. Without their prompt response and expertise, our campus would not be able to carry on its regular schedule and daily routines. The entire Wolfpack community is immensely grateful for such hard-working employees.

During December of last year and January of this year, North and Central campus faced electrical challenges from aging equipment and damage caused by wildlife, resulting in power outages and emergency responses from facilities staff. We understand the inconvenience that situations like these cause as they are disruptive to our educational and research missions. It is essential that the campus community is aware of such infrastructure complications and how our facilities staff are addressing the complex issues caused by aging infrastructure.

While we have been working to prevent future events like these from happening, finding a solution is a long-term process. In response to the electrical problems that have occurred, both recently and in the past, the facilities engineering staff have been working to conduct a comprehensive review of the current condition of vital devices, cables, and equipment among the electrical grid of the university.

Facilities staff are also working to modernize our campus electrical system. They have begun implementing a long-term plan to replace and upgrade the electrical distribution system on North and Central Campus. This new system will reduce outages by quickly identifying, isolating, and repairing failures. However, modernizing the system is going to be a challenging and lengthy process, as we will have to work to secure additional funding.

We hope that the execution of this project will provide a more stable and reliable infrastructure to serve the entire campus community. NC State is an outstanding place to live, learn and grow, and we are working hard to ensure that our campus continues to support the important work of our university.

Thank you,

Randy Woodson
Chancellor