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Schools to start wind turbine projects

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By Steven Martens | Monday, January 21, 2008 |

ERIE, Ill. — Erie school Superintendent Mike Ryan credits the district’s school board with thinking “way outside the box” in allowing him to explore the idea of building a wind turbine to power the district’s buildings.

That idea will begin to become a reality within the next two weeks when ground is broken at Erie Middle School for the turbine, which is expected to be running by the end of the school year, and will generate about 87 percent of the power needed to run the school district.

The $3.5 million price tag for the project is a large investment for a school district Erie’s size, Ryan said. But between saving on energy costs and the profits from selling unused power back to Commonwealth Edison, the district expects to save $4.5 million to $5 million over the life of the turbine, about 30 years.

The school district received a $720,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. The group’s executive director, Jim Mann, said the foundation has supported other similar projects, including a $420,000 grant for a similar project at the Sherrard junior and senior high school.

Interim Superintendent Rene Noppe said construction of the Sherrard project, which will provide a substantial portion of the power needed for the junior and senior high schools, will begin this spring and be completed by the end of July.

The city of Geneseo, Ill., also has plans to build two wind turbines, at a cost of $9.4 million, which will supply about 12 percent of the town’s power.

Mann said the school districts benefited by starting their projects a few years ago before the costs of wind turbines began to escalate. He said the costs have increased because demand for wind turbines has dramatically increased and, because most wind turbines are made in Europe or India and are priced against the euro, the dollar’s loss of value against the euro also has contributed to the increasing costs.

“Erie was ahead of the curve, so their project is in a better position,” he said.

— Steven Martens