I wouldn't be surprised if the new system has some features billed as saving tens of thousand dollars a year. That's entirely possible. My tiny little college made winter break 2 weeks longer and saved 200k a year.
in austria, decades ago they invented winter holidays to save on heating for a week. then they found out that it cost them more to reheat the building after that week, so now they just keep the empty buildings heated.
There's a a point at which the off-time is long enough that the cost savings are more than the price to reheat the building. Making winter break two weeks longer is likely to cross that threshold.
in austria, decades ago they invented winter holidays to save on heating for a week. then they found out that it cost them more to reheat the building after that week, so now they just keep the empty buildings heated.