Utilities Request Forms - Power / Water / Plumbing / Fuel / Sanitation
Dear Department Resource Manager,
It’s time to enter your department resource requests for the 2026 season. Please submit your requests prior to May 1, 2026. We do suggest that you have your power and fueling equipment requests submitted as far ahead of this date as possible to make sure that we can fulfill your needs.
The DPW Utilities Departments work closely with Placement & SciFi as part of the annual BRC Mapping Project. Your maps are critical components of our event planning and deployment. Without your maps we cannot plan your power grids and plumbing installations. Please take some time to walk through the Hive Course - BRC Staff Camp Mapping Project. You will soon receive your mapping template of your camp/work space in BRC, and with it a pack of common components. We need you to create your map in AutoCAD and with these components to decrease our workload in reformatting your maps once received. Please note that components have some background values that help us to calculate grid amperage. Please DO NOT use old components from another file.
Resource Management:
By now you have read the Sustainability Roadmap which calls on us all to carefully consider the ways in which we approach resource management in BRC. The power grids and potable water systems we run for the infrastructure at the event represent a large portion of this resource management. Bringing temporary power to such a remote location has a high impact in terms of financial outlay, time spent, physical effort, resources required, and the carbon it produces.
Timelines for ordering power equipment:
We have already submitted our initial power equipment order for the 2026 event. Waiting until May to place the first order only ensures that less equipment is available and that we pay higher rates for rental and transportation. We have assessed reported camp growth to pre-determine power needs for 2026, and will make final adjustments on power grid size once we have all the requests in May. Please contact us at power@burningman.org if you anticipate significant growth beyond what was reported in your placement form so we can assess your situation.
Camp Maps:
We would like you to invite us to plan your camp with you this season. This year we will continue to improve the design of our power grids through a Holistic Grid Design approach. We aim to look at the design of your camp and how it relates to other camps within the power grid it is a part of, creating greater power efficiencies. We made significant steps in reducing our fuel usage on the power grid in the past few years, and we need your buy-in to continue making progress! To schedule a planning meeting for your camp layout please contact us at power@burningman.org.
Fuel equipment requests:
We do not need your department to submit fueling requests for vehicles or generators. We do however need to know if you are requesting any specialized fueling equipment, specialized fuels, or if you have refrigerated trucks.
Potable water tanks:
If you are requesting a potable water installation please know that our infrastructure program has no planned expansion, but we will review new requests. You will need to make sure you request both potable and grey water tanks for your site.
Grey water tanks:
These are 250 gallon tanks - anything other than that requires a conversation. Please reach out to business.services@burningman.org.
We are continuing to discuss how we as a community will be working together to reduce our carbon footprint. The two biggest focuses continue to be modifying human behavior around equipment that requires fuel, and asking you to consider upgrading your equipment to newer models which has a lower power draw - air conditioners being the number one culprit.
Sincerely,
Hotspot
DPW Utilities Superintendent
hotspot@burningman.org