U Of A Will Start Using Only 100 Percent Green And Clean Energy

TUCSON, AZ — The University of Arizona will reroute its energy sourcing from a traditional utility provider model to using only 100 percent emissions-free sources including wind, storage and solar systems. The university’s move toward solely green and clean energy usage was approved Tuesday by the Arizona Corporation Commission. This clean energy project is slated to satisfy the university’s entire power needs for the next two decades, a U of A spokesperson reported Tuesday.

Though the U of A’s move away from a traditional power source might seem like a move away from the Tucson Electric Power utility company, it’s not. The two organizations are linked in the university's new clean energy project, with TEP providing the emissions-free power to the U of A. TEP officials say they will accomplish that by directing and allocating to the U of A portions of a couple new TEP clean energy projects: a New Mexico wind farm and a solar-plus-storage system that’s situated southeast of Tucson. Both projects are anticipated to start service by late next year.

U of A’s President Robert C. Robbins has been a primary proponent at the university level when it comes to sustainability. “We made a commitment to become a more sustainable campus, and now we have in place a system that will make a significant impact in just two years,” he said. “I believe it is up to higher education institutions to lead the way on clean energy solutions.”

The new U of A/TEP clean energy project appears to be a problem solver, according to U of A Assistant VP of Facilities Management Chris Kopach. “We have been researching a way to implement 100 percent of green energy, and this deal gets us there in one fell swoop,” he said. “This project provides capacity for consistent and reliable power with capacity for decades of growth in Tucson and on campus.”

TEP has also joined with U of A Institute of the Environment climate experts to develop science-based, measurable carbon reduction targets to direct resource development in the long term.

“Southern Arizona is one of the fastest warming areas in America, and anything we can do to slow it down helps us at home,” said U of A Office of Sustainability Director Trevor Ledbetter.

The University of Arizona is 1 of 21 universities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico with membership in the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3), which aims to improve climate change research and lessen climate-changing emissions.