An Illinois school district plans to use one turbine to power all its facilities.

From Massachusetts to Minnesota, Pennsylvania to Colorado, schools are turning to wind power to cut costs and establish independence from local power utilities.

Generally, these wind power projects have used one wind turbine to power one building. Some schools power multiple buildings, but only after installing additional wind towers. In Illinois, the wind turbine project at the Erie Community Unit School District No. 1 promises to take wind power to the next level. By the end of the year, Erie will be one of the first school districts in the state—and possibly the nation—to move beyond the one turbine–one building ratio. With the help of Johnson Controls Inc., Erie plans to use one large turbine to power all of the buildings within its district.

“The time has come for Illinois to take a bold step toward energy independence,” begins Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in a February 11, 2005, letter sent to the Illinois Commerce Commission, announcing the state’s first-ever sustainable energy plan.

In November of that same year, Blagojevich announced the launch of the state’s first Renewable Energy Development (RED) fund. With an initial investment of $4 million, the fund’s purpose is to support community-scale wind energy projects throughout Illinois. The funding came about as a result of Blagojevich’s sustainable energy plan.

Blagojevich’s plan called for electric companies to use renewable energy for 2% of their power by the end of 2005. After that, the percentage requirement increases one percentage point each year until reaching 8% in 2012. According to a 2005 study conducted by the Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago, implementation of the sustainable energy plan will result in significant economic benefits. By reaching the 8% mark, the study concluded, Illinois could create over 7,800 new jobs and a pump an additional $7 billion into state coffers. As a result, a relatively small investment in sustainable energy would result in substantial financial benefits.

While the economic advantages of the governor’s plan are hard to dispute, the environmental benefits are equally compelling. For example, even a small increase in the use of renewables will result in substantial improvements to air quality in the state. In Illinois, coal-burning power plants contribute more than 90% of the state’s air pollution due to substantial emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon oxides. An 8% reduction in demand from those traditional power plants by 2012 could cut sulfur and carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 99%, improving overall air quality and allowing the state to meet federal requirements for reduction of those emissions. The anticipated results of Blagojevich’s plan have compelled former adversaries to become allies. Utilities like Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Utilities and environmental groups like the Citizens’ Utility Board and the Environmental Law and Policy Center both support the plan.

With the help of Blagojevich’s advocacy and a $4 million RED grant, Illinois currently hosts 28 major wind farm projects that have a total potential capacity of 4,800 MW per year. The state provides the perfect environment for wind power systems. Many of its counties experience strong, consistent winds averaging 11–13 miles per hour at an elevation of 30 feet. These counties are often sparsely populated and contain large swathes of open land. Locale helps as well: Most of these rural locations are still close enough to high-voltage power lines to connect to the local electric grid. Illinois now ranks 16th in the country in terms of wind resources.

Situated in a rural portion of northwestern Illinois, the Erie Community Unit School District No. 1 serves approximately 762 students from three different counties: Whiteside, Rock Island, and Henry. The district includes three campuses: an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. Using one turbine, the district’s wind power project will supply power to all six of the district’s buildings. Successful wind projects at other schools led the district’s superintendent, Michael Ryan, to investigate the possibility of using wind power.

“Specifically, I knew one of our school districts, Bureau Valley, had one up and operational,” says Ryan. “So I talked to the superintendent down there to find out what he went through in the project to see if it might have been viable for our school district.”

Initially, the district received a $25,000 feasibility grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. The foundation uses a $225 million endowment from Commonwealth Edison to fund various clean energy projects. First, a hopeful project submits a request, in the form of a short letter, to the foundation. If that initial request appears to be viable, the foundation will ask for a more detailed application.

The foundation promotes “environmental best practices.” Programs supported by the foundation generally focus on energy efficiency, pollution reduction, protection of natural resources, and renewable energies. The foundation limits funding to charitable, nonprofit organizations and local government agencies serving Illinois residents.

Ed Miller, the foundation’s program director, outlines its main focus: “We believe that any renewable source should be tapped in sites where it’s appropriate,” he says. “We have frequently provided funding to school districts and other public and nonprofit organizations to determine whether or not they have an appropriate site for a wind power project. If they do, we are eager to see them move ahead with the project.”

According to Miller, the foundation found more than enough reason to approve the Erie district’s initial request for funding: “Erie had sent in a grant request describing the project, and we then invited a much more detailed project proposal. I’d say it was one of the most thorough proposals that we have had from any grant applicant.”

The district tapped Johnson Controls to head up the feasibility study. Based in Milwaukee, Johnson Controls focuses primarily on interiors, power options, and energy efficiency. The company provides batteries for traditional automobiles as well as hybrid vehicles. It also supplies innovative interiors designed to promote comfort and safety for automobiles and office buildings. All of the company’s products and services highlight an overall commitment to energy efficiency. Johnson Controls became involved with the Erie project after conducting a five-year energy savings program with the district.

“Mike Ryan happened to go to a seminar, and he was interested in wind,” recalls Kirk Heston, a representative from Johnson Controls, “and he just called me—we’d been friends for several years—and wanted to know what I knew about wind. From that we started forging ahead and looking into it and building on that. It’s been about an 18-month process from beginning to close.”

The feasibility study gathered information about site evaluations, established wind patterns, and met tower readings in and around the district’s locale. Studying the district’s current usage enabled Johnson Controls to construct a turbine able to generate sufficient energy to meet the district’s needs now and in the future. The study also analyzed the amount of energy the wind tower can produce over its life span. A significant aspect of the feasibility study was its ability to generate a usage-by-meter ratio, allowing for a calculation of the project’s potential savings and the expected payback duration. Heston explains the process involved in conducting a feasibility study: “First, you need to figure out just how much wind there is. So we had to do a feasibility study, which includes gathering wind data: when it blew, how much it blew, and averaging it out. You find the site, and then the site must be matched up with the zoning requirements. Can they actually put one here, and what are the fallbacks and what are the setbacks?”

Based upon the data gathered in the feasibility study, the district submitted its formal request to the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for an additional grant to help build the actual wind tower. Ultimately, the foundation awarded Erie an additional $720,000 for completion of the project. Although the grant covers only a portion of the project’s estimated $3.5 million cost, Ryan says the school district will fund the remainder of the project by generating debt certificates.

With funding secured, the district and Johnson Controls set about beginning the actual construction of the project. According to Ryan, the district benefited greatly from information provided by the Bureau Valley School District. In 2005, the Bureau Valley High School located in Manlius, IL, became the first school in the state to own and operate a utility-sized wind turbine. The turbine generates 660 kW and, when at full capacity, can power the district’s high school. Bureau Valley was able to pursue the project in part through Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation grants totaling $351,678. Significant assistance also came from the law firm of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton, and Taylor, the same firm used by the Erie district.

“I believe one of the major plusses for us is that the same attorney group that represents Bureau Valley school district represents us,” says Ryan.

“Those attorneys have been through the process once with Bureau Valley,” continues Ryan, “and that really enabled us to avoid a lot of the steps that Bureau Valley had to go through in working with the same attorney group. They had been through the wars, if you will.”

As with any construction endeavor involving large installations, the Erie project jumped through a series of hoops in order to comply with federal, state, and local regulations. Although the process was not arduous, each step along the way had to be completed, resulting in incremental progress toward the ultimate goal of a fully operational wind power project.

“A lot of the minutia details were in and of themselves challenging,” states Heston. “The FAA report, the microwave tower search—you can’t have these things in the area of a flight pattern. You have to watch out for avian migratory bird paths.”

The project consists of a single 1-MW turbine able to generate twice as much energy as the one installed at Bureau Valley. The acquisition of the turbine provided the project with one of its many challenges. A quick Internet search generates a hearty list of turbine suppliers and manufacturers: GE Energy, Energy Transfer Corp., Carbide Burrs4less, Dutch Pacific LLC, Intercrop LLC, Ameritech Wind Systems, Northern Power Systems, Ohio Alternative Power LLC, Select Systems Inc., Specialized Power Systems Inc., Salon Wind Energy Corp., The Wind Turbine Co., Took Asia Wind Energy, Tower Tech Systems Inc., and US Wind Turbine LLC. Nevertheless, Heston says that currently the United States has no major manufacturers of large wind turbines interested in the sale of one large turbine. Although Johnson Controls ultimately was able to acquire a turbine for the district, it was not without difficulty. “I can also tell you coming up with a single turbine in incremental sizes is difficult,” Heston says. “Turbines today are pretty much sold out two years in advance, and there are not a lot of manufacturers that want to talk to a person, an entity, or a company that wants one. They’re selling them 600 at a time.”

In the end, Johnson Controls discovered two companies willing to supply the necessary equipment: Bensys Systems, a German manufacturer/distributor of large wind turbines, and SeaWind Energy, another turbine manufacturer and distributor, currently relocating to Houston.

Finding SeaWind Energy was fortuitous, says Heston, because “SeaWind Energy is actually looking at the type of markets that Johnson Controls is interested in because of the niche—because while everybody else is sold out, they can literally sell hundreds by picking up these odd and ends.”

The district’s plans include a tailor-made science curriculum based on the turbine project. The district has applied for an EPA grant of $10,000. The EPA grant program provides funding for environmental education projects. The ultimate goal of the curriculum would be supplying the district’s grade 4–12 science teachers with material for lesson plans based upon wind power in general and the district’s turbine in particular. As part of the curriculum, Ryan hopes to provide information about the turbine on the Internet, so that the whole world can have access to the Erie project. Ultimately, Ryan feels receiving a grant will enable the district to “bring that wind power information into our classroom, so our kids can study the project that’s sitting out in their backyard.”

The Internet aspect of the project relies on the direct digital control system that will be installed by Johnson Controls. This system will collect a variety of data from the wind tower. The collected data will then be downloaded onto the school’s Web site, allowing users to study the wind tower’s performance and its effect on the school’s total energy usage.

Heston explains how the system works: “What we’re going to do is capture information via this building automation system, pull the kilowatts, pull the amount of capacity, and put that into information that can be put out on the Web site.”

Heston lauds the Web site project for enhancing the curriculum and bringing this type of information into their science classes.

“It’s also going to be a link to the nation, to the world,” says Heston. “If anyone wants to see what Erie’s doing, they can click onto that Web site and see what that power and turbine is doing for them.”

An essential part of the project involved future planning. Says Heston. “When you’re looking at a 30-year project, my mantra to the school board, as well as the superintendents, is we need to challenge ourselves to think 30 years out—what will Erie look like 30 years from today?

“Because we have to really plan for their future,” continues Heston, “as part of this project they found they could do air conditioning, so we installed heat pumps in all of the buildings that aren’t currently air-conditioned. So if they have year-round school, they have that covered.”

Heston explains another, added benefit: “Also, with the heat pumps—because they’re electric—when the wind blows, it’s free power. So we cut them off their gas, and we’ve given them some commodity independence as well.”

The district's plans include a science curriculum based on the project.

“That’s one of the offshoots of this project,” says Ryan. “I told the board, if we’re going to be generating our own energy, why don’t we do something neat in our buildings—and so we’re going to air-condition all our buildings.”

The district broke ground on the project in the fall of 2006. According to Ryan, the foundation is complete, and the district is now awaiting the arrival of the turbine, which was manufactured in the Czech Republic. Several pieces of the turbine have already landed in the United States, and Ryan anticipates delivery of all the components no later than February 2007. The district’s ultimate goal is having a fully operational turbine in the spring of 2007.

The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation expects the project’s success will provoke other entities to take a closer look at wind power. Miller says the foundation ultimately hopes “the relatively small number of projects that we fund are in fact models for the whole state and other school districts, other community colleges.”

Ryan remains optimistic about the project’s future. The district anticipates substantial savings by reducing its dependence on power supplied by electrical utilities. Once the turbine is up and running, it will supply the district with 100% capacity at least 39% of the time. At 100% of its capabilities, the turbine can generate up to 1.2 MW of energy. Over the project’s 30-year life span, Ryan expects the district to save approximately $9 million. Once the cost of the project is subtracted from that amount, the district should end up with a net savings of approximately $4 million.

Confident of the choice, Ryan emphasizes the speed with which everything came together. “The more I heard about wind-turbine energy and how it was a viable source, I just felt I need to look into it to see if we had the location to run a project like this,” he says. “And once we ran the feasibility study and found that we did have the location and the wind pattern to sustain a turbine, we just went ahead full force into the project.”

Ryan now feels like the project is in its final stretch. “We felt this was a probably 100-step process, and we’re now at probably step 95, where the actual construction will start. Once everything is here,” continues Ryan, “it takes about four or five days to erect the turbine.”

“I’m optimistic,” Ryan adds, “and I feel confident the project will finished by March of 2007.”

Heston believes the turbine system will run smoothly. “We’ve been studying this for about 16 months. We’ve tried to take into account every little ‘gotcha,’ and I think we’ve covered all bases the best that we could.”

Elizabeth Cutright writes features for Forester Communications.

DE - January/February 2007