Turn it off: October is Energy Awareness Month

Published Oct. 11, 2007
By Kandis West
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- You don't have to drive a hybrid car or have a solar-powered house to conserve energy. October is Energy Awareness Month and Tinker energy manager John Hurd said that conservation is a team sport.
   "If a thousand people do a little thing, it becomes a big thing," Mr. Hurd said.
   He said although we are a large industrial base and we have to expend natural resources to do the job, we can still conserve.
   He said simple tasks like turning of lights that are not in use, closing doors and windows and unplugging appliances like coffee pots, radios, cell phone chargers and fans can conserve energy and reduce energy costs at Tinker, freeing up taxpayer dollars.
   Mr. Hurd said in a calendar year, general duty hours just cover about one-third of the year. The other two-thirds of the time, offices are closed, however, a large amount of energy is still being consumed by offices.
   "In a 2001 study, we found that the five highest energy days were Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the following weekend," Mr. Hurd said.
   He said findings like these demonstrate wasteful behavior. His plan is to make base members constantly aware of their energy use so that the two-thirds of the year the base is not fully populated, energy can be conserved.
   "We spend about $45 million on utilities at Tinker," Mr. Hurd said.
   The cost is up from $38 million last year, and has more than doubled in the last six years from 2001 when the cost was just $20 million.
   Mr. Hurd said energy costs are dependent on the price of natural gas and weather. He said natural gas is an unregulated industry, unlike electric companies that have to consult the Oklahoma Corporation Commission on price changes. He said gas prices have varied from $3 to $12 per unit.
   If summers are very hot and winters very cold, the base will use more energy.
   "While we can't affect the price of natural gas or the weather, we can impact the price by using less energy," Mr. Hurd said.