Since we are experiencing the highest outdoor temperatures of the season, the campus annual electrical demand rates will likely be set for the entire year sometime today through Wednesday of next week. The combination of students back for the fall semester and the extreme high temperatures will cause the electrical consumption to peak and therefore determine what electrical capacity City Utilities must plan for our campus throughout the entire year. This establishes the minimum we must pay through the next 10 months for the demand portion of the electric bills, regardless of the actual electricity we consume. This is a cost the university must understandably pay, but if it is set with unnecessary consumption, we will have adversely impacted the utility expenses when it could have been avoided.
Therefore, it is most important that we do what we can to minimize our electrical peak for these next few days.
Please help with the following:
- Turn off electrical equipment and appliances that are not in use.
- When leaving your office or classroom, turn off lights and computers if you are not returning for some time.
- Turn up the thermostats in those spaces where they are accessible.
Facilities Management is taking additional measures to conserve, including shutting down the fountains that are operated with large electrical motors.Please join the campus community to step up and make a difference!