Report: Iowa Schools Investments in On-Site Renewable Energy Paying Off

According to a recent report by the Iowa Policy Project, ten Iowa schools have renewable energy projects that are supplying a portion of their energy needs. These districts are spending less on electricity and more on students who now have an up-close opportunity to learn about wind energy.

The report, "Wind Power and Iowa Schools," shows that the ten Iowa schools with turbines are saving between $3,500 and $120,000 each year. Projects range in size from a 50 kW turbine at the Clarion-Goldfield school to a 1.65 MW project at the Iowa Lakes community college.

The study provides significant details about each of the ten projects. This information will be useful to other school districts considering developing wind energy projects of their own. Included in the project profiles are discussions of the motivations, key people, legal/zoning issues, interconnection issues, pricing issues, construction issues, manufacturer issues and funding issues.

In addition to the ten schools that operate wind turbines, the report provides information on the five additional schools that seriously considered, but decided against installing a turbine.

More