PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Drake Rice, Director of Member Services, 405/340-5047
Mangum Hospital Receives DEEP Check For Chiller Replacement
During Mangum’s City Commissioner’s meeting on March 1st, Drake Rice, Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA) Director of Member Services, presented a $1,200.00 check from OMPA’s Demand and Energy Efficiency Program (DEEP) to Mayor Maxine Thomason and Lindsay Crabb, Hospital Administrator, for replacement of an air conditioning chiller at the city’s hospital.
“We would like to congratulate the City of Mangum on demonstrating its leadership in energy and the environment and in the community with this DEEP award presented tonight,” said Rice.
The new Carrier 100 ton unit replaced an older unit of the same model at the hospital. The unit was installed in February 2011 after discussions with city and hospital staff. “We began working with the City of Mangum and the hospital on June 30, 2010 about energy issues and about the hospital facilities. The city was interested in improving hospital operations by replacing an air conditioning chiller that was not operating properly,” said Tom Willis, OMPA Energy Engineer, and coordinator of DEEP for the Authority.
“The new unit was evaluated as slightly more efficient than the older model. It will reduce the demand on the city’s electric system by 6 kilowatts (kW) and over 22,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh) annually,” added Willis. A kWh is the basic unit of electric energy equal to one kilowatt of power supplied to or taken from an electric circuit steadily for one hour.
DEEP assists OMPA’s 38 member cities with their qualified customers to reduce their electric service energy demands and costs. This program provides rebates to commercial and industrial customers that implement retrofits that reduce their summer demand at peak times. These projects include lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, commercial food service equipment, pumps and motors. The reduction of these demands help keep energy rates as low as possible and delays the need to add additional OMPA generation capacity to the system. “This can have the effect of helping customers continue to stay and grow in the community,” stated Willis.
The funds available for approved projects will be determined by the OMPA Board. Funds available for an individual project will be determined through submission of detailed project plans. For more information on DEEP, visit the OMPA website at www.ompa.com or contact Willis at twillis@ompa.com.
OMPA is a state governmental agency created by the legislature to serve cities and towns that own and operate their electrical distribution systems and is governed by the members. The Authority presently serves 38 municipally-owned electric systems in Oklahoma.
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