Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.78
Liaison Troy Goodnough
Submission Date Feb. 10, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Minnesota, Morris
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.83 / 4.00 Troy Goodnough
Sustainability Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total energy consumption, performance year:
126,729.62 MMBtu

Clean and renewable electricity (report kilowatt-hours):
kWh MMBtu
Imported electricity from certified/verified clean and renewable sources (i.e., bundled green power purchases) 0 Kilowatt-hours 0 MMBtu
Electricity from on-site, clean and renewable sources (rights retained/retired) 4,583,584 Kilowatt-hours 15,639.19 MMBtu

A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable electricity:
---

A brief description of the on-site renewable electricity generating facilities/devices:

We obtain 60% of our electricity from two 1.65MW Vestas wind turbines. Morris owns all of the renewable energy credits for the power it consumes from both of these turbines. In addition, there are two photovoltaic panels near the Science building and a 300kW back pressure steam turbine in the biomass plant, which also makes electricity. There is also a 20kW solar PV system at Green Prairie Community. And, we have a 240kW solar PV field.


Clean and renewable thermal energy (report MMBtu):
MMBtu
Clean and renewable stationary fuels used on-site to generate thermal energy 280 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:

The recreational pool at our Regional Fitness Center (RFC) is heated by an array of 32 flat-plate solar thermal panels. This array is estimated to produce about 280MBtu per year. In addition, Morris has a biomass gasification plant that provides heating and cooling at Morris.


A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable thermal energy:
---

Unbundled renewable energy products (report kWh):
kWh MMBtu
Purchased RECs, GOs, I-RECs or equivalent unbundled renewable energy products certified by a third party 3,041,000 Kilowatt-hours 10,375.89 MMBtu

A brief description of the unbundled renewable energy products:

UMN Morris purchases RECs from Otter Tail Power Company. The campus overproduces about 5M kWh of clean electricity each year, which is sold to our local utility, which is Otter Tail Power Company (OTP). The utility retains the RECs for electricity they purchase from the turbines. Essentially, in 2020, UMN Morris repurchased the RECs produced from our campus's own clean energy generation.


Total clean and renewable energy generated or purchased:
26,295.08 MMBtu

Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
20.75

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 ---
Coal ---
Geothermal ---
Hydro ---
Natural gas ---
Nuclear ---
Solar photovoltaic ---
Wind 60
Other (please specify and explain below) 40

A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:

About 60% of campus electricity comes from wind. Other sources (solar PV, back-pressure steam turbine at biomass plant) contribute smaller percentages. Minnesota has a Renewable Energy Standard of 25% renewable energy by 2025. Our local electricity provider, also contributes to that goal. So, state policy is helping us increase our total renewable energy percentage beyond 60%. Our local utility is expected to get over 35% clean electricity by 2023.


Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100)
Biomass ---
Coal ---
Electricity ---
Fuel oil ---
Geothermal ---
Natural gas 100
Other (please specify and explain below) ---

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:
---

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.