During winter vacation the University spread the holiday spirit by offering its help to the entire Eugene community as below- freezing temperatures drove up the demand for power and threatened to exhaust the community’s energy source. It may not be the last time the campus has to offer its services.
At the request of the Eugene Water and Electric Board, the University used both of its electrical generators to fill all of the campus’s electricity needs Dec. 11 and 12, so EWEB could better meet the community’s energy demand during the ongoing Northwest energy crisis.
The crisis, which is being caused by an unusually dry winter, higher power prices and not enough new power generation sources, led EWEB to ask its commercial customers to curtail their use of power or generate their own electricity.
“The demand for electricity has grown due to population increases, but the supply has not kept up with the demand,” EWEB Public Affairs Manager Marty Douglass said.
In early December there were forecasts for zero degree temperatures, he said, adding the situation could have meant not enough energy for all of Eugene.
Although the temperatures did not drop as expected, Douglass said the University, along with other commercial customers, may be asked to generate their own power again in future months if severe weather becomes a reality.
“We’re on alert throughout the winter since freezing temperatures still pose a threat,” Douglass said.
George Hecht, University Campus Operations director, said the University has two generators, and each can generate as much as three megawatts of power per hour, but under normal conditions only about half of the generators’ power is used.
“Buying electricity is generally cheaper, so we use the generators only when we need to,” he said.
One generator is a back pressure generator that is used to generate steam for heating the campus and the other is a condensation generator that is not used as often, he said.
Although the University did not lose any money from using the generators this time, Hecht thinks the price of campus power is going to increase.
“It’s possible this energy shortage could be a long term problem, and the era of cheap energy will be gone,” he said.
Douglass also said University electricity rates are expected to increase soon.
“I think we’ll see customers paying more than they ever have before,” he said, adding that the increased rates will apply to all customers.
University Energy Specialist Amy Lake said the University will receive a credit from EWEB for the amount of electricity used from the generators.
She added that utility rates, which are the prices of heating campus auxiliary buildings such as the EMU and student housing, will also be unaffected by higher costs from the generator usage because these buildings are heated by steam and not electricity.
“I think we’ll find out we benefited from the generator use overall,” she said. “Once we factor in the fuel that will be made up with the credit I think we’ll come out on top.”