Story and photo by Shawna Mount
Last night around 7 p.m., Brooks City-Base Campus experienced an estimated 30-second power surge caused by a break in a near by power line located near the intersection of South New Braunfels Avenue and Sidney Brooks Drive.
The surge caused a blackout throughout the building causing computers and lights to shut off, but almost immediately, power returned and classes resumed.
CPS Energy night crew including Distribution Journeymen Louis Gunnels and James Braton and Distribution Trainees Frank Gracia and James Bedford arrived at the scene soon after to correct the issue.
“There may have been a weakness in the line already,” Bedford said. “The weather must have caused it to finally snap.”
Braton was sent up in the bucket lift to fix the wiring while Bedford, Gunnels and Garcia remained at ground level for support.
“There was a bad spot in cord and the wire burned through,” Gunnels said. “Now we’re just getting it hooked back up.”
Texas A&M-San Antonio’s Main and Brooks campuses have back up systems in cases of power outages.
“Main has a back up generator for all emergency and life safety equipment,” Marshall Lasswell, director of facilities and physical plant, said. “Brooks is backed up by battery packs.”
Lasswell said Brooks Campus is backed up by battery packs instead of a generator because the campus is owned by Brooks Development Authority.
“The battery packs work just as well as long as the power outage isn’t long,” Lasswell said. “Otherwise the battery will run out.”
According to CPS Energy website, battery packs are charged through solar power. The backup system produces 133 to 400 kilowatt hours per month depending on the system installed.
The facilities department and Brooks Development Authority were unable to provide information on the system installed at Brooks City-Base.
