Supply and demand

Running the University Park campus requires over 275 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. A kilowatt hour is a unit of energy roughly capable of lighting a 40-watt light bulb for a full 24 hours. University Park consumes 35 times more electricity than the next closest campus, Penn State Erie.

Most of Penn State's electricity is purchased from Allegheny Energy, Ruskin said, and the monthly bill adds up to approximately $1 million.

Allegheny Energy uses coal, natural gas, and some hydroelectric power in generating its electricity, said company spokeswoman Janice Lantz.

Determining energy sources for Penn State is a balancing act, Ruskin said.

"We look at the general needs of the campus. We want to do it with a proper environmental context. We want to be cost efficient and at the same time minimize pollution and global warming," he said. Because of this environmental strategy, OPP has begun to explore alternative sources of energy.

Boosting a new industry

The university had tried using solar power, Ruskin said, but Centre County is too cloudy to generate significant amount of electricity. The array of panels on the Physical Plant Building's roof provides only enough to power several offices within the building, he said.

The university has also explored wind energy, a quickly growing industry in the state, Ruskin said. Massive windmills in Somerset County, run by an outside energy provider, are capable of providing nearly 5 percent of University Park's needs, or about 13.2 million kWh.

In the two years since the program's inception, Penn State has become the second largest purchaser of retail wind energy in the country and has begun to power other campuses with wind power. Besides environmental benefits, there is an economic argument for using wind power -- by using it, "we are boosting a new industry in the state of Pennsylvania," Ruskin said. Still, wind power costs 1.4 cents more per kWh, increasing the total yearly bill by 1.6 percent.

OPP, in conjunction with researchers on campus, is also exploring several developing energy sources, including hydrogen fuel cells and geothermal heat. The latter method involves relying on the relative warmth of the Earth for heating and cooling production. Twenty OPP vans run on compressed natural gas, another attempt at conservation. "We would like to have totally non-polluting sources, but they're not out there yet," Ruskin said.

The myth of the power plant

The perception that most of Penn State's electricity comes from the "power plant" on College Avenue and Burrowes Street is misguided, Ruskin said.

"The function of that building is to generate steam to heat the university. It's a fine difference," he said. The small amount of electricity generated in the building, officially known as the West Campus Steam Plant, at most represents only 7 percent of Penn State's needs and is used only for emergency lighting such as exit signs.

The plant was built in 1929 and burns coal from Philipsburg, using what Ruskin describes as a "sophisticated cleaning process." It uses a filtration system to clean exhaust, so that only water escapes from the building's chimney. The plant is also capable of burning oil in the event that coal supplies run low.

There is also a smaller plant on Porter Road, built in 1972, that runs primarily on natural gas and provides heat for the Eastern part of campus.

Lots of little things add up

Some of the biggest users of electricity on campus are dormitory buildings due to the growing numbers of electronics that students bring. Penn State is equipped to handle those demands, but "the students can play an active role in helping us control cost. A lot of it amounts to very simple changes in lifestyle," such as using stairs instead of an elevator, Ruskin said. There are over 300 elevators on campus, and each trip made costs 1 or 2 cents.

"When you look at the scope of the university, lots of little things add up," he said.

Students should also try to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms and use flat screen computer displays instead of the traditional CRT monitors because they use less electricity.

Diana Sturrock (junior-environmental resource management), a member of Earth House, a special living option for students interested in the environment and agriculture, said that she always tries to turn off the lights when leaving her room. Sturrock says she "feels that it's an important issue, and we like to do every little bit we can. It makes a difference."

Adam DiNardo (senior-engineering science) added, "I think people are usually more conscious of it when they're paying the bill."

Not all students go out of their way to minimize their electricity usage. "I think the university needs to better articulate the benefits of energy conservation, because I don't see any," said Andy Banducci (sophomore-economics).

In the past, OPP has had limited success getting students to practice energy conservation. As a result, it is looking at new technologies rather than education programs to help reduce consumption. In 1995, the lights inside 99 percent of exit signs on campus were replaced with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) requiring one-fortieth as much power. The scoreboard at Beaver Stadium is also lit with LEDs, Ruskin said.

Some buildings have installed motion sensors, which will turn off lights in a room if there has been no activity for 15 minutes. Penn State is also installing more efficient lights in all new and renovated buildings, as well as some dorm buildings, Ruskin said.

OPP's continuous commissioning program, which tries to maximize energy efficiency on a building-by-building basis, has resulted in substantial savings. Electrical bills for the Materials Research Institute, for example, were reduced by $81,000 annually.

Laura Miller, energy program engineer for OPP, said Penn State is taking part in a project which explores new technologies to save energy and money. The project, known as ESCO (Energy Services Company), has already saved 3 million kWh, 5 million gallons of water and 1 million pounds of steam per year.

The peak month for energy usage at University Park is August, even though most students aren't on campus. This is because air conditioners, particularly window box models, require lots of power. As a result, most cool air on campus originates from "chiller buildings" and is pumped out to various buildings. Eastview Terrace, which will open this fall, will be the only dorm on campus to have air conditioning in every room.

During winter break, the temperature is turned down in all 804 buildings on campus, resulting in a savings of over $200,000. This program began about 30 years ago in response to the spike in oil prices.