Lights on for substation

OREM — From street lights to overhead projectors, computer labs to elevators, it's not cheap to provide electric power to a college campus.

At Utah Valley State College, a new power substation is projected to save the college more than $1,000 a day in energy costs.

"We expect to flip the switch on March 5," said Jim Michaelis, UVSC's associate vice president for facilities and planning.

The $2 million station is on the college's main campus, and has been under construction for about a year. It's taken longer than usual to build because the college had to receive approval from Utah Power and permission for rights of way from nearby residents.

When completed, Utah Power will transmit electricity from a power station in Vineyard to the substation, which will be owned by the college. Electricity will be distributed from the substation to various parts of campus, Michaelis said.

In about six years, the costs for building the substation will be made up by the daily $1,000 savings. The savings comes from the portions of the power system that the college owns, Michaelis said.

The substation will distribute about 4 1/2 megawatts of power each day.

Currently, electricity comes from a substation owned by Utah Power. The college spends about $2 million a year in electricity for the main campus, including power for the McKay Events Center.

"That's (the 4 1/2 megawatts) what we think we'll use at this point," Michaelis said. "We could go up to 7 1/2 megawatts. If things got really critical down the road, we could go up to 15 megawatts."

UVSC uses nearly 31 million kilowatt-hours a year.

An average house uses about 9,000 kilowatt-hours a year, said Utah Power spokeswoman Margaret Oler.

"So, just doing the math, then, in one year's time, that 31 million kilowatt-hours would approximate to 3,400 average residential homes' usage," Oler said.

The Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management helped the school start an energy conservation group that organized the substation construction and other projects. The group replaced existing lights with more energy-efficient fixtures. They also replaced a pump in the heating system.

"The net result is we've been able to keep the costs of energy on campus at the same level despite all the energy (price) increases we've had," said Val Peterson, vice president of administration and external affairs at UVSC.

"There are a number of state agencies that have their own substations," said Lori Hansen, a corporate account manager for Utah Power. "It's not new, but it's new for UVSC. There are also customers that have their own substations . . . mostly industrial customers."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com