School districts get state's blessing to build wind farms

After three years, Hoffman Estates Democrat Fred Crespo finally has something to show for his efforts on behalf of schools seeking to tap into renewable energy.

Gov. Pat Quinn has signed the School District Intergovernmental Cooperation Renewable Energy Act into law, paving the way for school districts to start banding together to develop wind farms.

The legislation that ultimately passed took many twists and turns before Crespo was able to find language that was acceptable to electric utilities - which opposed an earlier bill - and both major parties.

"Needless to say, I'm very excited," Crespo said. "It was a tough bill to pass."

Crespo, who benefited from the support of Reps. Keith Farnham, an Elgin Democrat, Mike Tryon, a Crystal Lake Republican, and Linda Chapa LaVia, an Aurora Democrat, as well as Sen. Michael Noland, an Elgin Democrat, hopes the bill will spur Illinois school districts to begin offsetting their energy costs at a time when the state owes many school districts millions in promised aid.

"This is a model that many others will learn from," Crespo said. "It's a way to promote green energy and a great way for schools to save on their energy bills."

The three suburban school districts that pushed for the bill aren't wasting any time. Under the provisions of the bill, Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300, Keeneyville Elementary District 20 in Hanover Park and Prospect Heights District 23 plan to formalize a school wind consortium in July, according to District 20.

The school districts, which already have tentative agreements with landowners to build a 20-megawatt wind farm in downstate Stark County, hope to finalize the land contracts in August.

The districts still have to decide on a funding model. They hope to take advantage of grants from the Department of Energy, tax credits provided under the federal stimulus package and bonds to finance the construction of the farm and reduce the upfront cost.

Whatever they decide, the legislation has cleared the way for them to begin delving into the nitty-gritty and developing a model that other school districts could emulate.

"This is the first time that a school district has ever done this," said Gary Ofisher, operations director for District 20. "There will be more school districts that will be following in our footsteps."

Ofisher said the districts are on schedule to have the wind farm operational by the fall of 2011.