Rural schools considering benefits of wind power

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

STANFORD (AP) – The long-term cost savings from a wind turbine doesn’t always offset the initial cost for some school districts that are considering the turbines for rural districts.

But the first district to use a turbine, Bureau Valley in Manlius, already has saved $100,000.

In Stanford, the state’s largest rural district, Olympia administrators are in the middle of a feasibility study conducted by a company that installed two of the four turbines already in use at Illinois districts. Olympia got some state money and spent some of its own for the study and for a 300-foot tower that will measure wind force, direction and consistency.

“The board of education has not made a decision,” Superintendent Brad Hutchison said. But “the district has a history of being interested in energy conservation.”

In 2000, Olympia was among the first Illinois districts to install a geothermal heating and cooling system. That same year, it began using biodiesel fuel for its vehicles.

The middle school and high school, both on the same campus, have a combined annual electric bill of $225,000. “The energy generated from the turbine will dramatically reduce our electric bill, “ said Andrew Wise, the district’s business and operations manager.

Olympia’s three grade schools are scattered throughout the 377 square mile district.

Teachers could use the turbine for science and agriculture classes. Students also could explore wind energy and related career options, Hutchison said.

Olympia would supply wind and electrical production data to Western Illinois University, Macomb. In return, the university could assist in educational programs at Olympia schools, said Fred Iutiz, manager of sustainable development for the WIU-based Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.

Depending on its size, a turbine could cost about $2 million, Hutchison said, and about $500,000 could be paid through energy grants. The district could get a return on its investment in about a dozen years, he said.

The payback, based on power generated and power used and higher projected cost of the turbine, would be longer – about 30 years – at Downs-based Tri-Valley, so the board decided against it a couple of years ago.

“The decision was not to pursue it at this time,” said Superintendent Curt Simonson.

The payback period is only a decade at Bureau Valley, which did its own study about five years ago. With the help of grants, the district in 2005 became the first in Illinois to get a wind turbine.

It has seen $100,000 in gross energy savings since the turbine was installed, Superintendent Terry Gutshall said.

The district, which has about 1,100 students in grades K-12, hasn’t incorporated the wind turbine into classroom learning as much as originally expected. “We are still exploring curriculum possibilities,” Gutshall said.