Energizing exercise

Students who work out at Chico State’s Wildcat Recreation Center (WREC) can now produce energy for the facility’s power grid while breaking a sweat, according to a university press release.

Last week, ReRev.com, a Florida-based contracting company, retrofitted 25 of 29 elliptical machines at the WREC with equipment that can produce 50 watt-hours of energy during a half-hour workout. Combined, the machines can produce 16,875 kilowatt hours of energy in one week. Monitors will also be installed so users can track the amount of kinetic energy being transferred.

The $19,500 project, “ReCardio Our WREC,” was jointly funded by the university’s Bell Memorial Union Sustainability Fund Allocation and Bell Memorial Union committees, which oversee Associated Students projects.