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Conserving Energy

Posted on Dec 04, 2006

Conserving energy has a big payoff

The university has received a $66,000 incentive award from PG&E for conserving the natural gas and electricity used to heat and light campus buildings.

The award is one of several the university has received from the utility over the past two years for excellence in energy planning and conservation.

Studying how a building's environmental systems -- heating, ventilating and lighting -- perform and modifying or adjusting each system to gain the most efficiency is how the university achieved the savings that resulted in the award. Nine campus buildings were analyzed for this latest project.

The program under which PG&E awarded the money is known as the Energy Efficiency Partnership. It was established as a team effort among the California State University system, the University of California system and utility companies, including PG&E, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. The Public Utilities Commission uses fees it collects on utility bills to provide a financial incentive to the CSU and UC campuses to improve energy efficiency.

PG&E pays up to 80 percent of the cost of a previously approved energy-saving project, with the campus paying the rest.

"For 2006 to 2008, $14.8 million is earmarked for the 23 CSU campuses for this program to evaluate energy-saving opportunities, get them approved and implement conservation plans," said Mike Lerch, CSUMB's energy manager. "Typically, we can save 5 to 8 percent of what the university pays for electricity and gas."

This is the third award from PG&E the university has garnered. In 2005, five buildings were monitored for efficiency and changes made to their systems, earning CSUMB a $152,000 incentive payment.

This year, another $42,000 is pending for replacing inefficient lighting on campus. The lighting in the university's gym has already been completed.

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