School eyes wind power
Published 12:00 am Friday, October 18, 2002
An area school system is considering an alternative way to fuel its school.
St. Ansgar Community Schools in Iowa is looking into wind energy to provide power to the middle and high schools, said Superintendent Dwight Widen.
The school hopes to reduce energy costs, while helping the environment, Widen said.
The St. Ansgar School Board held a teleconference with a wind energy consultant Monday at its meeting to find out if it was feasible.
Based on wind speed and location, the consultant said the school was, Widen said.
"Our location and elevation are favorable for this approach," Widen said.
The wind speed around the school is at 16 mph, which makes the possibility of wind power an option, Widen said.
St. Ansgar schools would have to purchase a 750 kilowatt turbine to service the school, Widen said. Estimated costs of a turbine that size is between $500,000 and $600,000, he said.
Because of the high cost, the school needs to make sure it will be saving money in the long run, he said.
"When you're looking at anything over $100,000, it's a huge decision," Widen said.
Widen is researching consultants who can analyze the situation and determine what the school needs and how much money it could save in energy costs each year.
The consultant's work would cost about $3,000, Widen said.
Another way to offset the turbine cost would be to work out an agreement with the school's current energy provider. In such an agreement, the provider would buy any extra power generated from the turbine, Widen said.
The school is also looking into asking the Iowa Energy Bank for a zero percent loan to help with financial costs.
Widen said high energy bills take away money that could be going to other school programs. The money the school may save by using wind energy would be put back into the school, he said.
Widen has attended conferences on wind energy and talked to other schools that use it, such as Forest City, Iowa, which has used wind energy for 10 years.
Widen plans to go over consultant options at the next school board meeting Nov. 11 and hopes to hire a consultant after that meeting.
"We're proceeding with appropriate steps -- not too fast, not too slow," he said.