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It is essential that all faculty, staff and students on campus help us reduce our electricity consumption during Allegheny’s annual Load Drop Test, a component of our demand response program participation. The hour-long event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 9, from 2 to 3 p.m. Demand response programs are operated by the electric utilities as a last line of defense before blackouts and brownouts. A community of consumers reducing demand provides a valuable level of reliability insurance to the utility and prevents the need to increase generation supply by powering up more greenhouse gas emitting temporary power plants or constructing new power plants simply to meet peak demands. Participating in a demand response program also earns financial incentives for Allegheny College, which totaled over $40,000 last year. Starting at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, please shut down as many electrical devices as possible and leave them off until after 3 p.m. You should power down excess lighting, computers, printers, copiers, fans, air conditioners, etc. Plan ahead: Consider scheduling a departmental meeting during this time so all employees can shut down their individual offices and come together in one space or use the time to take a walk or tackle that reading or filing you’ve been putting off.
For an explanation of demand response programs and their benefits as well as details of how you can help, see the Demand Response Guidelines here. Participation by our entire community is crucial to maximize this program’s success! Please contact the Physical Plant (Ext. 5378) if you have any questions.