Energy-efficient appliances save the U small bucks.
James Parker, the U director of purchasing, explained that the U saves money when it buys an energy-efficient appliance over a conventional appliance. If green purchases have any extra initial costs, then the savings in electricity cancels out.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy teamed up in 1992 to introduce an evaluation and label program to help customers buy energy-efficient appliances. ENERGY STAR now partners with more than 12,000 companies and organizations and has become the industry standard for energy efficiency.
“It’s hard not to buy ESTAR,” said Kathy Ingleby, the senior buyer who heads the U’s green procurement program. She estimates that for each ESTAR-compliant computer, the U saves $48 annually and $176 during the unit’s lifetime, which is approximately three to four years.
Jeff Hymas, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, said an onslaught of new customers in the Salt Lake Valley and increasing demand among existing customers puts upward pressure on electricity rates. Rocky Mountain Power currently provides the 10th-lowest rate in the country at 6.41 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The U saved approximately $1,992 this semester by purchasing 83 ESTAR compliant computers from Dell and Hewlett-Packard and an estimated $3,984 over the course of the units’ lifetimes.
Both Dell and HP, the U’s leading suppliers for each appliance, emphasize their longtime dedication to energy efficiency. Dell updated its ESTAR requirements in 2007 and estimates that the new models save greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking one car off the road for three weeks.
The U also leased and bought approximately 21 new ESTAR compliant copiers from Xerox and Ricoh. Ingleby said the copiers purchased through state contracts require the appliances to be ESTAR compliant.
Ingleby estimated that if each copier lasts a little more than five years, the lifetime savings would total 1,186 kilowatt-hours, $110 and 1,826 lbs. of carbon dioxide.
Parker and Ingleby agreed that the total environmental cost and financial savings are difficult to calculate.
For example, carbon dioxide savings should change over time, Hymas said. Rocky Mountain Power’s current electricity comes from a number of fuel sources: 65 percent from coal, 9 percent from natural gas, 9.6 percent from hydroelectric, 3.6 percent from renewable sources and 12.8 percent purchased from other companies, including several wind farms.
However, by 2016 the percentages will change and so will the emissions. The company plans to decrease coal to 43.4 percent, increase natural gas to 18 percent and increase renewable sources to 8.5 percent. Hymas said that based on demand projections, the current generation composite could not meet future demands.
Hymas added that electricity rates might go up to cover the cost of additional new generation, but all price increases require a prior review and acceptance by the Utah Public Service Commission. An increase in energy rates would also increase the monetary savings collected by energy-efficient appliances.
Parker said he believes that whether the savings are small or large, saving the environment is a part of the U’s responsibility.
“It’s not all about saving money”, he said. “People who have the money to do it, should do it,”