Campus Energy Data
Utility Import
UCSC imports 16,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, 5,000,000 therms of natural gas, and 150,000,000 gallons of water every year, provided by PG&E, UCOP Energy Services Unit, California Department of General Services, and Santa Cruz Municipal Utilities. See a month-by-month breakdown below:
All imported electricity for the main campus is purchased from clean power plans. All imported electricity for the main and satellite campuses will be clean by 2026. See our greenhouse gas emissions page for more information.
Electrical Generation
UCSC has a 4.4 megawatt (MW) natural gas cogeneration unit that generates over half of campus electricity and provides heat to Science Hill. There are also two solar arrays on campus – a 2 MW system over East Remote Parking (connected to a 1 MW battery unit) and a 250 kW system on the roof of McHenry Library.
The East Remote parking array, completed in 2021, is the largest renewable energy project on campus.
You can watch a video about how UC Santa Cruz Boosts Campus Grid Resiliency with Solar Energy and Storage or check out live and historical data at the East Remote Parking Lot Solar Array dashboard.
Usage Breakdown
In addition to “master meters” that track whole campus usage for utility providers (Pacific Gas & Electric, Santa Cruz Municipal Utilities, UC Energy Services Unit, and California Department of General Services), Energy Management manages and maintains an internal, campus-owned, sub-metering system that monitors electric, natural gas, water, and irrigation use at the building level. This allows us to track utility costs of different campus units and identify high-usage buildings to target for energy efficiency projects.
Filter the dashboards below to see total utility use by building or building category.