Willamette’s Footprint: Electricity
Electricity Use at Willamette
Electricity is a large expense for any university. Over the past five academic years (2000-2005), Willamette University has consumed 69,180,503 kWh of electricity and spent $4,263,238.10 on electricity bills (fig. 1 and 2). These numbers accounts for all of the buildings and facilities associated with Willamette University proper. These numbers exclude buildings outside of the immediate campus area (retreat cabins, etc.). A break down of usage is possible between buildings that are individually sub-metered. Willamette University main campus is on one sub-meter (Fig. 3). The main dormitories and class buildings are accounted for in the main campus reading. The lack of monitoring between buildings leads to a disincentive to conserve energy. Through sub-metering projects Willamette hopes to promote more sustainable electricity use.
Usage and expenditure information obtained from Gary Grimm, Operations/Energy supervisor, Willamette University. Graphs, data compiled by Onica Presnell