Utility Systems

Central Energy Plant

The Central Energy Plant has two crews, the first which maintains our utility infrastructure that includes:

• Steam distribution piping
• Chilled water distribution piping
• Utilitiy Tunnels
• Electrical Substations
• Electrical distribution system
• Hydro Generator at First Dam

The second crew maintains and operates the central energy plant 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

The plant includes the following:

• Three Babcock and Wilcox boilers that were installed in 2002 with a capacity of producing a total of 220,000 lbs/hr of steam to heat the campus.
• Three York chillers with the capacity to produce a total of 4500 tons of cooling.
• One Solar gas turbine generator unit with a heat recovery with capacity to produce 4.5 Megawatts of electrical power and up to 50,000 lbs/hr of steam from the heat recovery unit. This unit can be use for base load cogeneration or peak power production.

Water Quality

Jamie Hart, Water Quality Engineer, oversees the supervision of the Water Quality Crew under the direction of Daniel Ferris, the Utility Systems Director. The Water Quality Crew maintains the water quality for the university. They are notified when there is any kind of pool leak or reservoir/well electrical alarm. They also maintain the water quality of the pool located in the HPER Building. Any requests for their crew should go through Facilities Customer Service to be asigned a work order number.

To apply for a Land Disruption Permit, please visit the Forms & Policies page.

For more information about well-head protection, please visit USU Extension.

Storm Water

What is Storm Water?

Storm water is rain, snow, hail, and sleet. At the USU main campus/innovation campus storm water flows to the Cutler Reservoir, neighboring canals, sumps, and swales. Remember! Storm Water does not flow to the sewer system on campus, and only clean water can go down the storm drain!

Storm Water can become polluted:

Storm Water in general starts off clean and free from toxins and debris. As storm water travels on roads, sidewalks, and parking lots it can pick up debris and chemicals that can potentially contaminate our surroundings.

Storm Water Management Program:

Utah State University is a small municipal separate storm water sewer system (MS4). A permit following the submittal of our plan was issued in September of 2018. The Utah State University Storm Water Management Plan can be found at the following link: Utah State University Storm Water Management Plan.

Tips for keeping our streams clean!

• Do not conduct vehicle maintenance in a parking lot.
• Clean up drips and leaks promptly.
• All oils, including food oils are an environmental hazard.
• Tightly close containers when you are not using them.
• Put litter in its place.

Emergency Spills and Illicit discharge:

Pleas contact us for any spills or illegal dumping.

• Hotline (435) 797-3535
• After Hours Emergency (435) 797-1939

HVAC

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Shop

Facilities HVAC services include installation and maintenance of campus air handling systems, HVAC controls, refrigeration, and energy management systems. The HVAC Shop also installs and maintains a wide array of scientific and laboratory equipment.