| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 76.41 |
| Liaison | Krista Bailey |
| Submission Date | Dec. 12, 2023 |
Pennsylvania State University
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.44 / 4.00 |
Shelley
McKeague Environmental Compliance Specialist Engineering Services |
Total energy consumption, performance year:
Clean and renewable electricity (report kilowatt-hours):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Imported electricity from certified/verified clean and renewable sources (i.e., bundled green power purchases) | 101,494,224 Kilowatt-hours | 346,298.29 MMBtu |
| Electricity from on-site, clean and renewable sources (rights retained/retired) | 2,176,831 Kilowatt-hours | 7,427.35 MMBtu |
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable electricity:
Imported clean electricity is a combination of the Lightsource BP Solar project sites and the Mahoning Creek Hydro project.
MAHONING CREEK HYDROELECTRIC COMPANY
6 MW Hydroelectric PPA - In 2013, Penn State entered into a 10 year power purchase agreement with Mahoning Creek Hydroelectric Company.
LIGHTSOURCE BP
70 MW Solar PPA - In 2019, Penn State entered into a 25 year Solar PPA with Lightsource BP. The University began taking power October 1, 2020.
A brief description of the on-site renewable electricity generating facilities/devices:
Penn State has three different solar arrays on campus:
The first is a 2 KW array that was installed in 2001. This array is thin film panels with a grid-tied inverter and is fixed roof mounted on our Physical Plant Building.
The second system is a 1.75 KW pole mounted array and uses passive tracking. It is installed on our Center for Sustainability greenhouse and is mono-crystalline silicon panels with a grid-tied inverter.
The third is a 5 KW system located at the Physical Plant Building to offset a vehicle charging station for electric cars purchased as part of a Reinvention Fund grant through the Sustainability Institute.
A fourth array is a 2MW onsite solar array located at the University Park campus on Orchard Rd. A 25-year Power Purchase Agreement with the Alternative Energy Development Group (AEDG) began operation in April 2019 and provides 1% of University Park’s campus electricity needs.
Clean and renewable thermal energy (report MMBtu):
| MMBtu | |
| Clean and renewable stationary fuels used on-site to generate thermal energy | 0 MMBtu |
| Imported steam, hot water, and/or chilled water from certified/verified clean and renewable sources | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the clean and renewable stationary fuels:
not applicable
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable thermal energy:
not applicable
Unbundled renewable energy products (report kWh):
| kWh | MMBtu | |
| Purchased RECs, GOs, I-RECs or equivalent unbundled renewable energy products certified by a third party | 0 Kilowatt-hours | 0 MMBtu |
A brief description of the unbundled renewable energy products:
not applicable
Total clean and renewable energy generated or purchased:
Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
Website URL where information about the institution’s support for clean and renewable energy is available:
Electricity use, by source (percentage of total, 0-100):
| Percentage of total electricity use (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 0.20 |
| Coal | 14.80 |
| Geothermal | 0 |
| Hydro | 5.40 |
| Natural gas | 38.50 |
| Nuclear | 11.80 |
| Solar photovoltaic | 26.70 |
| Wind | 2.20 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 0.40 |
A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Data above based on fuel used for onsite combined heat and power generation, renewable PPAs and eGRID RFCW sources for purchased electricity.
Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
| Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100) | |
| Biomass | 0 |
| Coal | 0 |
| Electricity | 0 |
| Fuel oil | 0.30 |
| Geothermal | 0 |
| Natural gas | 99.70 |
| Other (please specify and explain below) | 0 |
A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
See https://www.lightsourcebp.com/us/projects/penn-state-powered-by-the-sun/ for information about solar power partner Lightsource bp and the PSU project.
See https://www.lightsourcebp.com/us/projects/penn-state-powered-by-the-sun/ for information about solar power partner Lightsource bp and the PSU project.
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.