Boston University considered installing a new clean power technology on the site of the Student Village project to help supplement BU’s energy supply, but the campus’ current energy provider discouraged the school from pursuing the idea.
NSTAR, the company that currently supplies power to BU buildings and most of Boston, told BU officials to consider the economic implications of installing the technology, called “fuel cells.” BU would have wanted NSTAR’s system as a backup “standby system,” NSTAR spokesman Mike Durand said.
“There are subsequent costs associated with having a standby system 24/7, Durand said. “These costs are subsidized by all of our customers. Asking [our million-plus customers] to absorb these costs just isn’t fair.”
BU spokesman Colin Riley said BU opted to stay with NSTAR and not install the system as its sole energy provider, though the school may be willing to reconsider alternate sources of energy in the future.
“We had been considering a fuel cell and it wasn’t feasible,” Riley said. “We support looking at alternative resources and are supportive of that. In this instance the timing just wasn’t right.”
Riley refused to comment on how economic issues may have influenced the decision.
BU would have wanted NSTAR to backup the new systems for routine maintenance on the new units or emergencies.
Advocates of fuel cells, as reported by Breakthrough Technologies Institute/Fuel Cells 2000, say the use of fuel cells promotes energy diversity and encourages the movement toward using renewable energy. Fuel cells operate silently on hydrogen from any source and emit a fraction of the pollution that conventional energy sources do, the group says.
-Christine Rousseau
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