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[Thursday, August 06, 2009] Motel 6 may leave the light on for you, but McHenry County College will shut off some of the lights at its Crystal Lake campus during a high electricity demand event, allowing more power for area homes and businesses.
The College participates in the Energy Network Operations Center (EnerNOC) electricity savings program in the event of a demand response for electricity. EnerNOC, of Boston, Mass., helps commercial, institutional and industrial organizations use energy more intelligently, pay less for it, and generate cash flow that benefits the bottom line, according to its web site.
A demand response is a time period during which demand for electricity is extremely high. For example, when several 100-plus degree days in a row generates a great demand for electricity, "brown outs" could occur, adversely affecting businesses and homes.
But MCC's participation in an electricity savings program will help the community.
"If there is a demand response declared, we will begin cutting electrical energy usage to help thwart a brown out or even a black out," said Ed Hall, assistant vice president of Buildings and Grounds at MCC.
On Tuesday, August 4, the College participated in a demand response testing and audit for one hour that included shutting off hallway lighting, with exceptions in stairwells or other halls not affected by sunlight and cutting back on air conditioning at least three degrees in the building; in most areas the air compressors, pumps, and fans were off completely.
"The result of the test was tremendously successful. We cut approximately 930 kilowatts in 15 minutes, just shy of our goal of 950 kilowatts," Hall said. Hall also said, "the test included the overall campus, with the exception of two rooftop air conditioning units that were not shut down. During the next test or demand response event we will cut those two units and we will achieve our goal." The average kilowatt usage for the almost 500,000 square foot campus is around 1,350 at 1 p.m. with an outside temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
"You've heard of power grid black outs, so we and many other larger users of electricity in the entire eastern half of the country will cut back usage to avoid a black out," Hall said. "Our campus is specially monitored to evaluate the amount of energy we cut back during this test or a demand response event, as well as monitor overall kilowatt usage at any given time; we can monitor peaks and valleys of electricity usage day or night.
"This program is a real community service. In the event of a high demand occurrence, we will decrease our usage, allowing businesses and homeowners the ability to have electricity," Hall said. |
