printable versionEnergy conservation program and penalties now in effect
BY MICHAEL PENA
A pilot program that assigned schools and administrative units throughout campus an electricity budget over the past six months ended its introductory phase on Aug. 31. Units that came in under budget got to keep money for conserving, while the central Budget Office covered those that exceeded their allotment.
But the no-penalty period ended this month, and units will have to pay for any excess energy consumption in fiscal year 2005 with local funds. The program, called the Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP), is designed to get 20 schools and administrative units to conserve power by allowing them to cash in on any unused kilowatts at the end of the fiscal year.
The program, introduced in March by Campus Energy Manager Susan Kulakowski, seeks to promote conservation by shifting the burden of paying for electricity from the central Budget Office to the individual units. Each unit now has an electricity budget that lasts until Aug. 31, 2005, with the value of what is left over to be determined by multiplying the unused kilowatts by the current rate.
The School of Medicine, Graduate School of Business, Bio-X and Residential and Dining Enterprises are financially self-sufficient and are not allocated electricity budgets.
“What we’ve been able to do in the last six months is increase awareness,” Kulakowski said. “That’s really the mindset change that we were looking for.”
Electricity budgets range from about 50,000 to 30 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) and are based on the amount of electricity that units have used in the past, adjusted for factors such as major renovations or program changes. Units that share buildings are allocated kWh (and corresponding funds) according to the square footage each unit occupies.
On average, units came in 2 percent under budget for the test period that ended in August—collectively saving about $150,000. Kulakowski estimates that the university could lower its electricity usage by about 5 percent via voluntary, no-cost measures.
“The really big change starting here in September is that there’s a potential downside,” Kulakowski said. “What we’re hoping is that everyone will at least break even.”
An appeals process has been set up for units that wish to have their electricity budgets increased. Reasons for appeal might include the acquisition of large, energy-intensive equipment or the initiation of a major electricity-dependent project.
For some units, such as the School of Earth Sciences, energy conservation has been a part of the culture for years. Other departments, meanwhile, have made conservation a higher priority since the program’s introduction.
Vicki Oldberg, associate dean for administration in the School of Education, said the school lowered its electricity use by about 5 percent over the past six months. She sent out e-mails to faculty, staff and students reminding them of simple steps to conserve energy and expressed confidence that the school can continue to rein in consumption over a 12-month period.
“I think they rolled it out fairly,” Oldberg said. “It’s just raising people’s awareness.”
A 50-megawatt, natural gas–fired plant near the Medical Center provides most of the electricity used on campus, which consumes about 26 to 28 megawatts on peak days. The plant is owned by an unaffiliated generator and also supplies power to the Medical Center and other self-sufficient units, but not the hospitals.
The electricity rate was 11.95 cents per kWh when the program was introduced in March, and as of Sept. 1, the rate was 12.05 cents per kWh. The central Budget Office will give units more money to cover any rate increases over the next 12 months, Kulakowski said. For more information, visit http://facilities.Stanford.edu/conservation/.