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The Cornell University central heating plant provides steam to the campus community for heating, process usage, and research. The CHP system serves more than 250 buildings covering approximately 13 million square feet. All steam is used by campus customers. The primary CHP equipment consists of six large industrial boilers fueled by low-sulfur bituminous coal, natural gas, and low-sulfur fuel oil. Prior to distribution throughout the campus, the steam passes through back-pressure turbine generators. Using coal as the primary fuel, the 8 MW CHP generator typically produces more than 30 million kWh annually. This represents about 12 percent of the annual campus electrical load. Cornell also buys retail power from the local utility, NYSEG, via a substation owned by the University. The International District Energy Association recognized Cornell's thermal energy system as its 2001 "System of the Year."