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Energy Systems Background
Enough power for a mini-city is distributed on the UI campus in Moscow to as many as 143 buildings and numerous miles of streets, acres of parking lots, construction sites and other infrastructure. Utilities such as heat, electricity, light, and air-conditioning/water cooling are supplied in part through purchased electricity and natural gas, and via university-owned-and-operated production and distribution systems.
For example:
 UI accesses electricity from Avista via two metered feeds at the edge of campus, which then is distributed to each campus site through a university system. This allows UI to purchase electricity at a cheaper rate than Avista’s residential or small commercial customers.
Natural gas for UI’s Power Plant is purchased directly from a deregulated energy broker, IGI Resources, Inc.. Natural gas is also purchased from Avista Utilities, a regulated local utility company, for buildings not served by the central steam system.
Wood chips, purchased relatively inexpensively from the regional timber mills, are the primary fuel used for UI’s steam production. The Power Plant (see photo) generates steam by burning the abundant wood fuel, using natural gas as a backup (see Annual Steam Production Data). The steam is transported through utility tunnels (see photo) to buildings in the core of campus where it is used primarily for space heating and domestic hot water.
UI Utility Data, Fiscal Year 2008
Primary Utilities Purchased:
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Electricity: |
62,452,341 KWH (kilowatt hours) |
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Natural Gas: |
935,971 therms |
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At Steam Plant: |
577,858 therms |
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At Gen Educ Buildings: |
358,113 therms |
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Wood Fuel: |
21,456 BDT (bone-dry tons) |
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Secondary Utilities Provided:
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Steam Produced: |
305,014,600 pounds |
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Chilled Water: |
4,110,193 ton-hours |
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Domestic Water: |
177,677,589 gallons |
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Recycled Water: |
89,174,716 gallons |
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Under the direction of the Director for FMO, the university’s Resource Conservation Manager helps identify and retrofit facilities to improve energy efficiency.
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