Dist. 301 tables turbine plan

The falling value of the dollar and a lack of alternative energy funding sources has forced Central Community Unit School District 301 to table plans on a wind turbine.

For the past two years, Assistant Superintendent Todd Stirn said, the district has considered installing a wind turbine to power its four grade schools, two middle schools, and high school.

The turbine, Stirn said, would likely sit on Plato Road, near Burlington Central High School - the highest point in Kane County.

Because most wind turbines are made in Europe, the plummeting dollar has made a turbine purchase impossible for the district this year, Stirn said.

According to the Federal Reserve, the euro was $1.55 Friday.

The energy-saving device will likely cost the district around $4 million, Stirn said.

"We haven't scuttled the project, just tabled it," he said.

District officials plan to revisit the wind turbine issue next summer.

In the meantime, Stirn said, district officials hope to see an increase in sources of alternative energy funding.

"There's not a lot of extra financial support coming in from any group to help us with the project," he said. "Any type of initiative - from the state, from the federal government - would help," he said.

Just one school district in Illinois currently features a wind turbine. After more than five years of planning, downstate Erie School District 1 installed a turbine this summer. The project cost the district approximately $3.5 million.