Overall Rating | Gold |
---|---|
Overall Score | 70.92 |
Liaison | Amy Brunvand |
Submission Date | Sept. 12, 2023 |
University of Utah
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy
Status | Score | Responsible Party |
---|---|---|
0.70 / 4.00 |
Emerson
Andrews Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund Manager Sustainability Office |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Total energy consumption (electric and non-electric)
2,569,988.20
MMBtu
Clean and renewable energy sources
Clean and renewable electricity
kWh | MMBtu | |
Imported electricity from certified/verified clean and renewable sources (i.e., bundled green power purchases) | 130,504,000 Kilowatt-hours | 445,279.65 MMBtu |
Electricity from on-site, clean and renewable sources (rights retained/retired) | 1,031,206 Kilowatt-hours | 3,518.47 MMBtu |
A brief description of the certified/verified sources of clean and renewable electricity:
During the reporting period, about 5% of grid-purchased electricity came from a power purchase agreement with WAPA and was sourced from hydro power (considered not low-impact hydro). Since 2019, a large 20MW geothermal power purchase agreement with Cyrq Energy began delivering renewable energy and more than half of the University's electricity became sourced from renewables. The University is also contracted with a 20 MW solar facility that is currently under construction.
A brief description of the on-site renewable electricity generating facilities/devices:
The University has 10 small solar PV installations across campus, which add up to about 1 MW in capacity. The installations are a combination of PPAs and University-owned.
Clean and renewable thermal energy
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:
---
Unbundled renewable energy products
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:
The university pursues renewables through PPAs, on-site solar, and about 5% of grid-purchased electricity came from a power purchase agreement with WAPA and was sourced from hydro power. Per STARS' instructions, WAPA hydropower is not included.
Metrics used in scoring
448,798.12
MMBtu
Percentage of total energy consumption from clean and renewable sources:
17.46
Optional Fields
Sierra magazine requests the following information from U.S. institutions that wish to share data with that organization:
Percentage of total electricity use (0-100) | |
Biomass | 0.08 |
Coal | 24.02 |
Geothermal | 45.11 |
Hydro | 3.99 |
Natural gas | 22.34 |
Nuclear | 0 |
Solar photovoltaic | 3.57 |
Wind | 0.74 |
Other (please specify and explain below) | 0.15 |
A brief description of other sources of electricity not specified above:
Data was pulled from 2021 eGrid for the state of Utah and university sourced renewable PPAs. The U of U installed a combined heat and power plant in 2008 that provides 7.5 megawatts (MW) of power.
Energy used for heating buildings, by source::
Percentage of total energy used to heat buildings (0-100) | |
Biomass | --- |
Coal | --- |
Electricity | 3.54 |
Fuel oil | --- |
Geothermal | --- |
Natural gas | 96.46 |
Other (please specify and explain below) | --- |
A brief description of other sources of building heating not specified above:
During the reporting period, only a small portion of buildings utilize electrically-sourced heating technologies including electric resistance, heat pumps, and, more-recently, variable refrigerant flow (VRF). This percentage is expected to increase as the university moves to an electrified approach.
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
REPORTING PERIOD
The applicable period of renewables reporting is from July 2021 to June 2022. Geothermal energy began delivery in Nov 2019, this represents a majority of the renewables that the University of Utah is receiving annually until the solar project comes online. STARS advised that Hydropower purchased from WAPA should not be included as "from certified/verified clean and renewable (sources)," so these were removed.
SOURCES
2021 eGrid State of Utah Data.
Facilities Sustainability & Energy track renewable energy production and heating technologies by building.
Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky Program Website (2020)
https://www.rockymountainpower.net/savings-energy-choices/blue-sky-renewable-energy.html
The applicable period of renewables reporting is from July 2021 to June 2022. Geothermal energy began delivery in Nov 2019, this represents a majority of the renewables that the University of Utah is receiving annually until the solar project comes online. STARS advised that Hydropower purchased from WAPA should not be included as "from certified/verified clean and renewable (sources)," so these were removed.
SOURCES
2021 eGrid State of Utah Data.
Facilities Sustainability & Energy track renewable energy production and heating technologies by building.
Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky Program Website (2020)
https://www.rockymountainpower.net/savings-energy-choices/blue-sky-renewable-energy.html
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.