Rally for the Wind Farm Alliance

Rally for the Wind Farm Alliance

October 28, 2008
6:00 PM
Lake Park High School
West Campus Auditorium
500 West Bryn Mawr, Roselle

The Alliance is working to provide clean, Sustainable energy to schools north of I80 by forming a consortium of public entities supporting the use of wind turbines located in Central Illinois.

We want to increase income for school districts, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and be a positive role model for our students who will one day be left to deal with the environment we leave them.

In attendance:
U. S. Representative Peter Roskam
State Representative Fred Crespo
State Representative Randy Ramey
Hanover Park Village Mayor Rod Craig
You, we hope!

Sponsored by: Mayor Rod Craig of Hanover Park
Keeneyville Elementary School District#20
Lake Park High School District #108


Wind Farm Alliance for the Benefit of School Districts in Illinois

On August 23, 2007, Illinois Public Act 095-0390 went into effect permitting that “an Illinois school district may own and operate a wind generation turbine farm, either individually or jointly, that directly or indirectly reduces the energy or operating costs of a school district.”

While the ability to own a wind turbine farm granted in Public Act 095-0390 is a great step in assisting school districts to free itself from the dependence of traditional electricity, the inability to reap the financial benefit due to the location of wind turbine farms and their distance from school districts remains problematic.

The majority of school districts in the state north of I-80 do not have the land or the access to some of the best-proven wind resources that are located in central Illinois.

To remedy this deficiency, legislation was introduced in the Illinois House in July, 2008 under HB 6660 by Representative Fred Crespo.

HB 6660 would mandate net aggregate metering for school districts that own a wind turbine farm regardless of where it is located in the State of Illinois and require electrical companies to give each district that is a participant in a wind farm intergovernmental agreement one kilowatt credit for each kilowatt produced by a wind turbine against the aggregate bills of the district at the current cost of electricity.

This will result in significant savings on utility bills for participating districts, and that savings can be spent on more direct educational needs. It will also mean that participating school districts will not have to ask for more tax dollars as electricity costs increase in the future. This will also be good for electricity-producing companies because they will not have to make a capital investment or provide ongoing maintenance for equipment that produces green renewable energy.

With the proposed federal renewal of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBS) schools will have access to interest free loans to build the proposed wind farm. This would mean a faster return on investment for our school districts so that more dollars can be used on the ever-increasing needs of our children.

School districts have formed the Wind Farm Alliance to stand up for what the right thing to do is for Illinois and our global environment. By creating more wind farms we will reduce our carbon impact on the atmosphere and set an example for our students and all our citizens. Saving money for the taxpayer, conserving money for education, helping the environment and providing a civic example to students are actions worth supporting.

The Wind Alliance of School Districts in Illinois sincerely hopes you will support passage of HB 6660 and the federal renewal of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds.

For more information contact Gary Ofisher via email at gofisher@esd20.org.