School, city looking into going green
Travelers driving along Highway 30 near Nevada will see three large wind turbines spinning through the Iowa skyline. The turbines aren’t just pieces of avante-garde art — they are wind turbines producing and pumping electricity into the Nevada schools and hospital.
The three towers, which were purchased by Nevada businessman Harold Faucett, who donated nearly $750,000 for the wind turbines in the early 1990s, each produce roughly 250 kilowatts per hour — or enough energy to light approximately 35 homes each year (according to www.ifnotwind.org).
“We were fortunate,” said Nevada Community School District Superintendent Jim Walker. “The towers were donated to us by someone who had a love of looking at things in different ways and saw how the use of wind energy would not only set an example for our students but would decrease the use of fossil fuels.”
Nevada Director of Transportation and Building and Grounds Maintenance Richard “Scotty” Scott said the turbines will operate with a wind speed of 5 to 6 mph. Scott said when the turbines are up and running at full speed the district saves approximately $72 per day or $26,280 a year.
Scott knows his wind energy. He’s been in charge of the two turbines on Nevada school property since the first one was installed in the fall of 1993. He’ll be speaking at a Central Iowa Wind Energy Conference at DMACC Newton campus on May 14.
“The wind turbines are a good idea,” Scott said. “I’m all for wind power — all you have to do is harness it and you have electricity.”
Not only are the towers beneficial financially for the school district, Walker and Scott said the turbines serve as a teaching tool for Nevada students who receive a first-hand lesson in renewable energy, green technology, and being responsible and conscientious citizens of the world.
“I believe (the turbines) do raise awareness in the community of being more earth-friendly,” Walker said. “You see these towers with these enormous blades spinning and it serves as a reminder.”
Nevada’s wind turbines also serve as inspiration and a resource for other school districts and communities hoping to harness the power of the sky.
Newton Community School District Superintendent Steve McDermott said the district has been toying with the idea of installing wind turbines for about a decade and realizes if done correctly the district and tax payers would benefit.
“We’ve talked for at least 10 years about using wind turbines in some way and becoming more active with renewable energy,” McDermott said. “We know other school districts like Nevada and Spirit Lake have wind turbines and we are looking for ways to become more involved, too.”
If the district were to install two 250 kWh turbines — like similar ones located in Nevada — it could save approximately $72 each day which would save roughly 6.3 percent per year on Newton’s $409,000 electric bill (electric bill figure from the 2007-08 school year).
“Aside from the obvious benefit of reducing our energy costs, we would be able to model a more green lifestyle for our community,” said McDermott, who also will attend the wind energy conference on May 14.
Two of the biggest hurdles facing Newton schools is the initial cost of the wind turbines (which are approximately $1.5 million each, according to Walker) and getting “on the grid” to allow the electricity to freely flow.
“We have hope of someday becoming more involved with renewable energy. We’ve visited with folks in Nevada and Northwest Iowa but beyond the funding challenge of the initial start up the other major challenge is getting on the grid which allows the electricity to flow from the towers to the facilities.”
Newton isn’t the only community who faces the grid hurdle. According to Scott, much of the Midwest has an outdated grid system that needs to be updated to allow for the expansion of wind energy in the region.
“The major drawback is the grid is not designed to get the power where it needs to go. The No. 1 thing we need to fix is the grid,” Scott said.
President Barack Obama has a plan for that. During the 44th president’s visit to Newton on April 22, he announced the federal government would invest billions of dollars in the grid system.
“Even as we pursue renewable energy from the wind and the sun and other sources, we also need a smarter, stronger electricity grid ... a grid that can carry energy from one end of this country to the other,” Obama said while at Trinity Structural Towers in Newton. “So when you guys are building these amazing towers and the turbines are going up and they’re producing energy, we’ve got to make sure that energy produced in Iowa can get to Chicago; energy produced in North Dakota can get to Milwaukee. That’s why we’re making an $11 billion investment through the recovery plan to modernize the way we distribute electricity.”
Along with investing in the grid, McDermott said a new federal grant may help cover some of the costs of investing in renewable energy.
“I have got to believe that if public entities such as a local school system is looking into renewable energies there should be significant grant dollars available to help get program off the ground,” he said.
McDermott also said the school, city and county will hopefully be able to partner with Trinity and TPI, which are at the forefront of the wind energy industry and located in Newton.
Newton Mayor Chaz Allen agreed with McDermott and said the city is looking at all its options and will soon be conducting a wind study to learn where towers should and could be constructed. Allen said the community and local leaders are trying to learn how to become more “green” minded as they move forward.
“We didn’t know what we’d do when Maytag left but we learned as we went. We don’t know how to go green or how exactly what will look like but we’re trying to learn how to become a green community as we go,” Allen said.
The mayor said by utilizing locally made products to not only save the earth but save some cash for taxpayers Newton could become a model community.
“If we are using renewable energy as a community then we are using the products that we produce and we will be practicing what we preach,” said Allen.
Jessica Lowe can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 426 or via e-mail at jlowe@newtondailynews.com.
