University of California, Davis
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

UC Davis received 37,175,982 kWh of power from 2 solar farms, Five Points & Giffen, in Fresno, CA in Fiscal Year 2018-19. UC Davis received 46,444,098 kWh of hydropower from Western Area Power Administration in Fiscal Year 2018-19.

The large 16.3 MW UC Davis solar power plant produced 29,046,595 kWh in Fiscal Year 2018-19. Smaller rooftop, ground-mount, and parking lot solar systems (totaling about 760 kW) produced 1,068,245 kWh in Fiscal Year 2018-19.

While UC Davis has an on-site biodigester, it has been under repairs during the performance reporting period, and therefore did not produce biomethane for use on site. The campus has completed repairs, has re-started operations at the biodigester, and is studying the ultimate uses for the biomethane. Currently, the biomethane captured from the now-closed campus landfill and from the biodigester is being flared while the biomethane use study is completed. Though UC Davis has solar thermal systems installed on some of our student housing and dining commons, there are no output records available.

Not Applicable

UC Davis purchased 58,103 MWh unbundled renewable energy credits (wind) in 2018 and 77,220 MWh unbundled renewable energy credits in 2019. Here, the average of the two years is reported for fiscal year 2018-19.

Other: Unspecified generation sources from utilities, including Western Area Power Administration, with which UC Davis contracts for a portion of our total electricity procurement.

UC Davis does use geothermal heat source pumps in some buildings, but because our output is relatively small compared to total heating energy on campus, and because our output cannot be accurately allocated between heating and cooling, the campus elects not to report any geothermal energy used for heating buildings. The 0.55% of “other” represents UC Davis’s propane usage, which is used for heating some small buildings on various outlying areas of the UC Davis campus and research fields.

Data sources: utility provider invoice/meter data and onsite meter data

Securing clean and renewable energy continues to be very important to UC Davis and the campus has invested in significant renewable sources on and off campus. We have installed a 16.3 MW on-site behind-the-meter solar power plant, along with another approximately 760MW of on-site solar; we hold over a one-quarter share of an off-campus 80 MW solar power plant; we own and operate an on-campus biodigester; we participate in the University of California’s (UC) Wholesale Power Program, which has ambitiously greened up the power we are allowed to procure from them; and we are investigating additional renewable investments. And the UC has been recognized for leadership in renewable energy in the U.S. EPA Green Power Partner Awards, with the 2017 Excellence in Green Power Use award and the 2018 Direct Project Engagement award. UC Davis is a major contributor to the UC renewable energy program, providing 43% of the total UC portfolio with our on-campus and off-site renewable energy projects and contracts.

An additional infographic about our campus energy story is available at: https://ceed.ucdavis.edu/energystory/.

Kiana Lee, student employee in the Office of Sustainability, assisted in compiling this credit response.