Renewable Energy
Co-op Helps School Wind Project
A Colorado co-op is playing an important behind-the-scenes role in the first project under the state’s Wind for Schools program.
A new Skystream turbine blade will join students in the Walsh School District in Colorado. (Photo By: Southeast Colorado RC&D)
A brand-new turbine at the tiny Walsh School District is the latest renewable energy project to interconnect with the distribution system at Southeast Colorado Power Association, La Junta.
The first of its kind under the Governor’s Energy Office Wind for Schools program, the turbine will provide hands-on learning opportunities for teachers and students in Walsh, population 700.
While the co-op is enabling the 2.4-kilowatt wind tower to pump green electrons into the grid, it is also making a long-term investment in energy education.
The co-op “believes that education is the key to our energy future, and the more everyone understands about our future energy needs, the better,” said Jack Wolfe, chief operating officer at Southeast Colorado Power Association. “We believe that southeast Colorado someday will benefit from that knowledge.”
The $15,000 project, which came online in February, stems from grants and other assistance from several sources. Besides the governor’s office, which has funded six other school-based wind projects yet to be built, aid also came from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Southeast Colorado Resource Conservation and Development Council, and the Cooper Clark Foundation.
Because the turbine is a net metering project, the school district also stands to save money on its electric bill, about $80 a month, said Wolfe.
In the 1930s, Walsh “was the heart of the Dust Bowl,” said Misty George, a project manager at the council. “We went from fighting the wind in the 1930s to harnessing its power to make energy.”
Tags: Renewable Energy, Wind Energy