Overhaul of aging electrical infrastructure in the works
The University of Houston has begun an “energy master plan” to overhaul its aging power equipment servicing campus buildings, according to officials from facilities.
When last month’s outages disrupted campus operations multiple times Jim McShan, UH senior vice president and senior vice chancellor, sent out an email to all students and faculty apologizing for the power failures. At the end of that email he mentioned the energy master plan, which was being implemented to prevent such failures in the future.
“The University has already begun the process of initiating an energy master plan to address older equipment, ensure sustainability of service, accommodate our vast growth, and to identify future energy and cost savings,” McShan said in his email.
David Oliver, associate vice chancellor/associate vice president of facilities, said the plan includes an infrastructure assessment that will identify components of UH’s power system that need replacement, and work, which will be performed in phases based on age and condition of the components.
“The energy master plan entails performing an assessment of the existing infrastructure and making recommendations to achieve the capacity and reliability levels required to meet future campus growth,” said.
The University began the formal Energy Master plan process in 2018, Oliver said