This paper shows that the configurational temperature of liquid-state theory, $\Tc$, defines an energy scale, which can be used for adjusting model parameters of active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particle (AOUP) models in order to achieve approximately invariant structure and dynamics upon a density change. The required parameter changes are calculated from the variation of a single configuration's $\Tc$ for a uniform scaling of all particle coordinates. The resulting equations are justified theoretically for models involving a potential-energy function with hidden scale invariance. The validity of the procedure is illustrated by computer simulations of the Kob-Andersen binary Lennard-Jones AOUP model, demonstrating lines of approximate reduced-unit invariance of the radial distribution function and time-dependent mean-square displacement.

Paper II is available at arXiv:2212.09041