Report details drop in water, power use in Columbia

Water and electricity usage has gone down per household, according to a citizen board report Thursday.

The Columbia Water and Light Advisory Board’s report for 2015 shows since 2005, the “per capita” use of electricity and water has declined, while total consumption has fluctuated. Columbia residents used 4.3 billion gallons of water in 2015 and 1.2 terawatts of electricity. Even as use spiked in certain years, the “per house, per day” usage of both continued to fall, according to the utility data.

Tom O’Connor just ended a nine-year service on the board. He believes that energy efficient appliances have helped lower consumption in homes and apartments. He also challenged residents to consider ways to reduce their own use, and not “abdicate personal responsibility.”

“We all share the costs and the benefits of it,” O’Connor told ABC 17 News about the public utility system. “And if we can all go a little easier on our shared system, it works so much better for all of us, now and into the future.”

The board’s report said Columbia’s current system allowed for a window of opportunity to jump into sustainable forms, like solar or geothermal. O’Connor called the current leadership of Columbia Water & Light “conscientious” of the utility, and that the systems, for the most part, weren’t “overburdened,” given the declining per household use. He said that expanding solar energy to a viable alternative would take a “moonshot” project, but now would make a good start. That would save the city from needing to perform multi-million dollar expansion projects, like a proposed high-voltage expansion in south Columbia, put on hold in January. Columbia Water and Light has warned of impending problems with federal regulators around the city’s reliability, should several outages happen at the same time.

Water became an issue in a dry June when southwest Columbia neighborhoods saw low water pressure. Columbia Water and Light suspected homes using irrigation systems at the same time, and recommended an irrigation schedule to help the taxed system. O’Connor said residents should be able to expect a working utility system, but should temper that expectation with its effect on the whole of its users. Residents should adopt an irrigation schedule full-time, O’Connor said, or the city should encourage and empower use of other water sources, like saved rainwater.

“Not everyone can irrigate a green lawn in the middle of the summer all at the same time, just because they think that’s when they’re going to do it, with potable water,” O’Connor said.

The city currently operates a solar field at the West Ash Pump Station. However, renewable energy makes up about seven percent of the city’s energy “portfolio.” Coal-burning remains the leader in the portfolio at 75 percent of Columbia’s electricity source.

(Editor’s note, 8/12: An earlier version of the story said Columbia consumed 1.2 gigawatts of electricity in 2015. The story has been corrected to say 1.2 terawatts.

An earlier version said Columbia had about seven percent solar energy in its portfolio in 2015. The story is updated to say the portfolio contains about seven percent of renewable energy sources.)