Least-cost Paths to Energy Independence at a Midwestern University

Abstract

In September of 2006, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced
that four Wisconsin college campuses would be selected to participate in
a pilot program to achieve energy independence by the year 2012. The
University of Wisconsin River Falls campus was one of the sites selected
for the program.
Energy independence was defined as being “capable of acquiring
or producing renewable energy equivalent to...consumption.”
Wisconsin Public Power Incorporated contracted with the Energy
Center of Wisconsin to identify and analyze the options for UW River
Falls to achieve energy independence. Given the varied approaches and
potential combinations of strategies and technologies for reaching the
goal of energy independence, it was necessary to narrow them down
to a manageable few. The narrowing process involved calculating the
degree of “independence” produced by each measure and the resulting
life cycle cost of implementing it. Energy independence was measured
as the percent of carbon-dioxide (CO 2
) reduction from the energy con-
sumption baseline. The final result shows the net present value cost (or
savings) of various paths to achieving energy independence.
The Energy Center evaluated four scenarios to energy indepen-
dence for UW River Falls. For each scenario we evaluated a combina-
tion of measures, ranging from building efficiency and conservation to
biomass-fueled boiler plants.