Reprinted from the North Hampton Community College News
October 09, 2009 

Saving energy can pay off.  Big time.

Ask Mark Culp, director of facilities and campus security, and Scott George, manager of facility operations, at Northampton Community College.

Last spring they signed NCC up for ClearChoice Energy Electric Demand Response Program. "We promised that if PPL ran into a problem providing electricity during times of peak demand during the summer, NCC would be among the organizations that helped out by reducing consumption," Culp explains.

Culp and George would have done that by shutting off non-priority air conditioning units in the Spartan Center, West Plaza, food court, Lipkin Theater, fitness center, locker room, Student Activities and the Kiva and by turning off non-essential lighting in hallways, bathrooms and unoccupied classrooms.  That would have saved about 220 kilowatts of electricity

Another 125 kilowatts could have been eliminated by reducing electric consumption at the Fowler Family Southside Center.

As it turns out, they never had to do that.  PPL's load was manageable this summer. 

But because NCC had been willing to help and had plans in place to do so, on October 7 Carolyn Pengidore, (pictured above center with Culp, left, and George, right) the president and CEO of ClearChoice Energy came to NCC to present Culp and George with a check for $10,798.48.  It wasnt made out to them!  The money will be put back into the College's operating budget.  Incentive checks are issued quarterly, so the total earned for participating this past summer will be more than $43,000.

That's a lot of green.

Pengidore said NCC is becoming known as a pioneer in saving energy and protecting the environment.  "I heard all the way in Pittsburgh that Northampton Community College is really innovative," she said.

ClearChoice Energy intends to continue the Electric Demand Response Program.  Culp says NCC will continue to participate.