VU initiates power curtailment due to record heat
[Originally published in The Vanderbilt Register]
With record heat over the past several days and high temperatures forecast for the weeks to come, Nashville Electric Service is anticipating a significant increase in power consumption across the Nashville community, leading it to issue a Power Supply Alert to its customers.
In response, Vanderbilt has initiated a power curtailment from Aug. 9 to Aug. 20. The Vanderbilt community’s response to last year’s curtailment initiated by the TVA resulted in a 6 megawatt decrease in the university’s consumption of electricity.
Plant Operations is doing its part to reduce Vanderbilt’s total power consumption through central measures, but asks individuals on campus to help by reducing power consumption in their work areas and at home.
Suggestions for reducing power consumption at work include:
- Powering down all unused equipment;
- Limiting copy machine use;
- Turning off all decorative lighting, as halogen and incandescent lighting typically uses more energy than fluorescent lighting;
- Adjusting thermostats to moderate temperature levels;
- Turning off bathroom lights as you leave;
- Turning off office lights as you exit, and turning off lights in unoccupied areas such as conference rooms and storage areas.
Should weather conditions change, the university will issue another communication suspending the curtailment.
Related article: Campus asked to conserve electricity in anticipation of long, hot summer
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