By Ilana Williams

For many students balancing schoolwork and a social life, the energy source powering the University of Maryland campus may be the last thing on their minds. 

But clean energy is a priority for the Sustainability Committee, the Student Government Association group that monitors UMD’s Climate Action Plan progress. And some committee members are not happy with the university’s plan for a new energy strategy: the NextGen Energy Program.

The university plans to use NextGen to change the campus power source by Fall 2023, according to the NextGen timeline. The contract is expected to last around 30 years, according to an email statement from the university. The program is set to replace UMD’s existing natural gas system.

The Sustainability Committee met with UMD Vice President Carlo Colella and the sustainability office’s Scott Lupin in February.

But the committee’s deputy director, junior Marilyn Yang, was not convinced by the university’s plan.

“They kept using words like ‘innovation’ and ‘sustainability.’ But in reality, what they’re planning on doing is they will renew the natural gas plant that we currently have,” said Yang, an environmental science and policy major.

Yang said she does not support NextGen because it requires the purchase of carbon offsets. 

With a carbon offset policy, the university could keep producing carbon emissions as long as it reduces or removes emissions somewhere else.. 

According to the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, carbon offsets are “not very effective or equitable measures for curbing carbon emissions.”

Eric Wachsman, the director of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute, supports the NextGen plan.

“It’s something the campus needs to do,” he said.

MEII is a UMD research program that focuses on energy technology and economic growth. Wachsman said the university has a few choices, such as a coal power plan, biofuel or thermal energy. 

Under the NextGen plan, a private company will serve as UMD’s energy partner. The university’s division of research plans to select one by the fall, the UMD statement said. Companies are supposed to submit their proposals in April.

“We will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals to meet the campus energy needs and our vision for the NextGen Energy Program to play a critical role in advancing the climate action plan and decarbonizing the campus energy system,” the university statement said.

But Yang said the Sustainability Committee would like to see UMD focus on alternatives such as wind and solar energy.  

“It seems like the foresight doesn’t appear to be there,” Yang said. “They’re going to be renewing this natural gas power plant just for a set number of years. It’s putting all this money towards something where we believe it should be put toward other renewable sources.” 

Prince Frederick Hall at the University of Maryland meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, measurements of a building’s sustainability. Photo by Ilana Williams.