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June 24, 2002 Volume 26, Issue 39 |
Mississippi State's interruptible power rate agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority allows for the possibility of controlled electricity outages when demand is particularly high, such as during peak summer air-conditioning periods.
Although TVA has not curtailed power to interruptible customers in MSU's rate category since 1999, the likelihood of such an outage is greatest during weekday afternoons in July and August.
In the event MSU is required to interrupt the campus power supply this summer, the Physical Plant Department will receive one hour's notice of the impending cutoff, and a notification procedure designed to reach as many faculty, staff and students as possible will be implemented immediately.
An e-mail message specifying the time of the anticipated power shutdown will be sent within a few minutes of the initial notification to all faculty and staff and a similar announcement will be placed on the university's World Wide Web home page.
Simultaneously, telephone calls will be placed from Physical Plant to vice presidents' offices and selected other offices across campus to give notice of the impending power interruption, and those offices will further relay the message.
Most faculty and staff should receive notice of a controlled interruption in ample time to save computer files or take other appropriate steps to prepare for loss of electricity, said Chief Administrative Officer Gaddis Hunt. Uncontrolled outages such as those caused by lightning are more likely to affect the campus and no advance notice is possible in those situations, he observed.
The interruptible power rate agreement that the university signed with TVA last fall already is reducing university electricity costs at the rate of more than $1 million a year. This fall, the university expects to begin construction of a campus power generating plant that will provide a backup electricity supply in the event of either controlled or uncontrolled interruptions.
Once the plant is operational and able to provide continuous electricity to campus, the university will switch to an even more economical TVA rate that allows for more frequent and longer controlled interruptions.