By Katy Yeiser, Daily Journal of Johnson County
A local school's lights and computers soon might be powered by wind.
Clark-Pleasant school district officials are considering placing a 300-foot-tall turbine, which looks like a windmill, at Pleasant Crossing Elementary School, as well as one at the proposed middle school, to produce electricity for the schools and save money.
Installing the machine would cost about $1.75 million, but the school district would be able to save enough in energy costs to make up for the project in 10 to 13 years, said Tony Kuykendall from mechanical engineering company Performance Services.
The turbine would last about 25 years, Kuykendall said.
Once a turbine is installed, taxpayers would begin paying off the $1.74 million bond as well as annual maintenance costs between $20,000 and $40,000.
School board members haven't voted on the project but will continue to study it in the coming months.
Over the next decade or more, the savings would come from using wind for most electricity needs instead of paying an electricity provider for all electricity. Also, the school district would save by selling wind-produced energy it didn't need, Kuykendall said.
Electricity costs for the elementary school are about $84,000 a year, and the new middle school would cost about $120,000 a year to power, said school district energy manager Ken Sears.
How long it takes for the school district to see the savings depends on how windy Johnson County is, Kuykendall said. Most turbine projects take about 10 years to pay off, but a turbine in the county could take longer, he said.
"There are just not quite the wind resources in this location as there is further north, so your output is going to be a little less," Kuykendall said.
Most turbines in the state are in counties near Lake Michigan. Johnson County's climate would provide enough wind for the machine, but wind likely would not blow as often, he said.
Performance Services will spend the coming months compiling sample and historical wind data from similar locations for board members. Then they will have to decide if the county is windy enough to warrant building the machine, Kuykendall said.
The company also will look for potential state and federal grants.
"It's going to take more research on our end to provide that information to the board," Kuykendall said.
Superintendent J.T. Coopman worked out the proposal with the company after he attended a conference on alternative and renewable energy resources for schools.
Coopman said the driving factor for the plan is cutting costs.
"We need to look at wind power in future building projects used out west in wind (turbine) farms for electricity. It doesn't happen much in the Midwest, but we would like that conversation to begin in Clark-Pleasant," Coopman said.
The turbine would sit about 500 to 1,000 feet away from the school and send electricity by the turn of its three blades through cables underground and into the school's electrical system.
The school district still would use electricity providers for the schools in case of no wind, Kuykendall said. If the turbine's blades aren't turning, the old electrical system would be automatically turned on and the school district billed by the utility company. The goal is to have the turbine cover 80 percent to 90 percent of all electrical uses, he said.
The remaining 10 percent to 20 percent would be paid by the school district, but those extra costs could be covered by selling unused energy, Kuykendall said.
If a windy day produces more energy than the school needs, the district can sell the unused energy back to the electrical company. The profits from the unused energy would cut into the amount of money the district would have to pay when the turbine's blades aren't producing energy.
Most of the unused energy can be saved during the weekends and summer months, Kuykendall said.
Most wind turbines in the United States are in Texas and California, but dozens of schools across windy states such as Illinois and Iowa are starting add turbines, Kuykendall said.
With energy costs taking an increasing chunk of school budgets, a move in Indiana schools for renewable energy is starting, Kuykendall said.
Randolph County school officials announced Wednesday they would be the first in the state to build a turbine, which will run Union City Community High School. Turbines also are being considered for use in schools in Warren, Howard, Clinton, Boone and Benton counties, Kuykendall said.
Kuykendall's company mainly deals with upgrading heating and cooling and other electrical systems in schools but is pushing for turbines.
"It seemed like a natural progression for our company to pursue renewable energy resources to school corporations," Kuykendall said. In order for the turbine to be built, the school district likely would have to go through the county to get a conditional use permit for installation, Kuykendall said. School officials also would have to get insurance and Federal Aviation Administration approval for the turbine.