For a number of years, the University of Iowa has participated in the MidAmerican Energy Company energy curtailment program—an incentive offered by MidAmerican that pays customers to reduce or offset electricity usage on hot summer days. The UI will continue to participate in the program and receive payment for reducing electricity demand, but all electrical offsets will be made by increasing on-campus electrical generation rather than reducing air conditioning in UI campus buildings. 

This change is made possible due to strategic, operational-based improvements at the UI Power Plant, such as upgraded electrical generating equipment and higher reliability due to greater diversity of fuels, including an expanded portfolio of biomass fuels. Energy efficiency improvements in buildings continue. Data analytics in the UI Energy Control Center, including newly developed fault detection and diagnostics tools, allow for Facilities Management to operate and monitor energy production, distribution, and building consumption under more optimized and tighter controls.

In past summers, many on campus have helped the UI meet curtailment goals by turning off unnecessary lighting, window air conditioners, coffee pots, unattended computers, and copy machines. While no longer a mandatory part of our energy curtailment strategy, energy conservation measures such as turning off equipment that is not in use are highly encouraged whenever possible and will continue to be an important component of the UI’s overall energy reduction strategy.