From: Wind Turbine Generates Electricity ... and Civic Pride
Study Promotes State Legislation Favoring School-Based Wind Power
Forest City’s school district is one of 10 in Iowa with a wind turbine. That number may seem low, but Iowa leads the nation in school-based wind turbines.
In Wind Power and Iowa Schools, a report issued by the Iowa Policy Project (IPP) and posted online at www.iowapolicyproject.org, co-authors Teresa Galluzzo and David Osterberg cite statistics that demonstrate “the great opportunity available for many Iowa schools. ... There are 1,532 public schools in 367 school districts, 200 nonpublic schools, 28 community colleges, 62 public and private colleges, and 3 state universities in Iowa. And, 40% of the state’s land has adequate wind speeds.
“The [existing] school turbines account for only a small share of the wind power installed in Iowa (5.5 out of 836 MW).... The state has the 10th highest wind potential in the nation and has the potential to produce 4.8 times more electricity than Iowans consume.”
Why, given this potential, haven’t more Iowa school districts installed wind turbines? Galluzzo, a research associate, says some school districts that explored wind power have found the initial capital investment to be a hindrance. “In other cases,” she says, “they weren’t able to reach a favorable agreement with the utilities to purchase the wind power. Either the purchase price the utility offered was too low, or the utility wouldn’t allow net metering.”
Osterberg is IPP’s executive director, an associate clinical professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Iowa, and a former state representative. He explains that the Iowa law requiring investor-owned utilities to offer net metering doesn’t apply to municipal utilities.
Meter Consolidation
Iowa law also doesn’t require any supplier of electric power to allow consolidation of meters, which would permit a school district that has multiple buildings—each with a separate meter—to offset its total power consumption with the output from a wind turbine.
Of the two major investor-owned utilities serving Iowa school districts, MidAmerican Energy Co., a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. in Des Moines, has been least amenable to meter consolidation. “They’re not good at hooking other people up, but they are generating wind power themselves,” Osterberg says. “About 8% of their total energy is coming from wind.”
Alliant Energy Corp. of Madison, WI, has allowed meter consolidation in some cases but not others. “Alliant also has its own wind farms, which produce more than 5% of its total output,” Osterberg says.
Production Tax Credit
A previous IPP report compared large wind farms with distributed wind turbines and found the latter to be more economical and environmentally beneficial to the state. That report helped to secure legislation in 2005 creating a state production tax credit of 1.5 cents per kWh for small-scale, locally-owned renewable-energy projects. “The 90 MW quota for wind power credits under this program was filled within two weeks, and no schools got them,” Osterberg says.
A similar measure providing credits for an additional 90 MW of wind power passed the Iowa Legislature without a dissenting vote and was signed into law by Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack on May 30, 2006. “There is a list of applications that exceeded the 90 MW created in 2005,” Galluzzo reports. “The bill says those on the waiting list from last year will be the first ones eligible for the credit. Luther College in Decorah is on this list and so will be eligible.”
Wind Power and Iowa Schools recommends an increase in the number of megawatts available for the state production tax credit. The report also urges the state to reserve a portion of the production tax credit specifically for educational institutions.
Other Policy Recommendations
Wind Power and Iowa Schools contains other policy recommendations that “focus on making the interconnection process simpler and fairer” to prevent utilities from discouraging school-based wind power:
- Require all utilities to net meter and allow schools to consolidate their meters for net metering.
- Require all utilities to purchase surplus power at a price that reflects the avoided cost of a new conventional, base-load power plant, plus an additional sum for the environmental benefits of wind power. Although the Forest City Municipal Utility buys the school district’s wind power at the same rate the school district pays for utility power, some utilities elsewhere in the state pay less than half as much per kilowatt hour for school-based wind power as they charge for utility power.
- Require the Iowa Utilities Board to issue a standard contract for interconnecting schools and utilities. Such a standard contract would eliminate complex negotiations and court battles.
- Ensure the continuance of the state’s Alternative Energy Revolving Loan Program (which provides interest-free loans of up to $250,000 for a wind-power project) and increase the amount of money available for such loans.
- Increase Iowa’s requirement for renewable energy (now 2% of total production) to 10% of total production, and require all Iowa utilities—not just those that are investor-owned—to comply with the requirement.
- Allow multiple schools to join forces for the purchase, operation, and servicing of wind turbines and to aggregate all of their meters for net metering.
- Allow schools to own turbines outside their district boundaries so schools located where too little wind is available can also benefit from wind power.
Educational Value
Apart from their economic and environmental benefits, school-based wind turbines have educational value. Galluzzo and Osterberg note in their report that “turbines have been incorporated in curricula at various grade levels and in various subjects.
“The pioneering Wind Energy and Turbine Technology associates program at the Estherville Campus of Iowa Lakes Community Colleges is the premier example of the educational potential of a turbine. This program instructs students in every aspect of turbine technology, as well as economics, management, mathematics, and computers using hands-on experience with the nearby turbine and the on-campus computer lab dedicated to the program.
“But even in primary and secondary schools, turbines have been used as resources for student learning. Of particular note is a book written by Spirit Lake [Community School District] first graders about their turbines.... For teachers interested in incorporating wind power or renewable energy into their lessons, there are a variety of resources available.”
Green Pricing
Increasing the availability of wind power will help to lower the cost of “green pricing” for utility customers who want it, Galluzzo says. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, issued an executive order in 2005 requiring the state to purchase up to 10% of its energy supply from renewable sources, and all utility companies in the state must offer their customers the right to purchase renewable energy.
Iowans who buy renewable energy now pay a surcharge that depends on the utility. “I’m getting 50% wind power, for which I pay about one cent per kWh,” Osterberg says.
In other states, some utility customers who have chosen wind-generated power have begun to pay less than those buying conventionally generated power, due to rising prices for natural gas.
Xcel Energy, based in Minneapolis, MN, provides service in 10 states and is Colorado’s largest single electricity supplier. The firm has 40,688 WindSource customers in Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico who have signed up to buy wind-generated energy. Colorado WindSource customers paid a $6 a month surcharge in 2005, but now they pay slightly less than those who receive conventional power.
Austin Energy, the municipal utility in Austin, TX, also has wind-power customers enjoying bargain rates. Because demand for wind-generated power now exceeds its supply, Austin Energy held a GreenChoice drawing in March to determine which recent applicants would join the program.
Environmental guru Lester R. Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, DC, cites these examples as harbingers of a future trend. He notes that the cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen from 38 cents per kWh in the early 1980s to four to six cents per kWh today.
“Wind energy is emerging as a centerpiece of the new energy economy, “ Brown says in an article for the Environment News Service, “because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and climate-benign. Three of the 50 states—North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas—have enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs.”
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September-October 2006
From: Wind Turbine Generates Electricity ... and Civic Pride
Study Promotes State Legislation Favoring School-Based Wind Power
Forest City’s school district is one of 10 in Iowa with a wind turbine. That number may seem low, but Iowa leads the nation in school-based wind turbines.
In Wind Power and Iowa Schools, a report issued by the Iowa Policy Project (IPP) and posted online at www.iowapolicyproject.org, co-authors Teresa Galluzzo and David Osterberg cite statistics that demonstrate “the great opportunity available for many Iowa schools. ... There are 1,532 public schools in 367 school districts, 200 nonpublic schools, 28 community colleges, 62 public and private colleges, and 3 state universities in Iowa. And, 40% of the state’s land has adequate wind speeds.
“The [existing] school turbines account for only a small share of the wind power installed in Iowa (5.5 out of 836 MW).... The state has the 10th highest wind potential in the nation and has the potential to produce 4.8 times more electricity than Iowans consume.”
Why, given this potential, haven’t more Iowa school districts installed wind turbines? Galluzzo, a research associate, says some school districts that explored wind power have found the initial capital investment to be a hindrance. “In other cases,” she says, “they weren’t able to reach a favorable agreement with the utilities to purchase the wind power. Either the purchase price the utility offered was too low, or the utility wouldn’t allow net metering.”
Osterberg is IPP’s executive director, an associate clinical professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Iowa, and a former state representative. He explains that the Iowa law requiring investor-owned utilities to offer net metering doesn’t apply to municipal utilities.
Meter Consolidation
Iowa law also doesn’t require any supplier of electric power to allow consolidation of meters, which would permit a school district that has multiple buildings—each with a separate meter—to offset its total power consumption with the output from a wind turbine.
Of the two major investor-owned utilities serving Iowa school districts, MidAmerican Energy Co., a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. in Des Moines, has been least amenable to meter consolidation. “They’re not good at hooking other people up, but they are generating wind power themselves,” Osterberg says. “About 8% of their total energy is coming from wind.”
Alliant Energy Corp. of Madison, WI, has allowed meter consolidation in some cases but not others. “Alliant also has its own wind farms, which produce more than 5% of its total output,” Osterberg says.
Production Tax Credit
A previous IPP report compared large wind farms with distributed wind turbines and found the latter to be more economical and environmentally beneficial to the state. That report helped to secure legislation in 2005 creating a state production tax credit of 1.5 cents per kWh for small-scale, locally-owned renewable-energy projects. “The 90 MW quota for wind power credits under this program was filled within two weeks, and no schools got them,” Osterberg says.
A similar measure providing credits for an additional 90 MW of wind power passed the Iowa Legislature without a dissenting vote and was signed into law by Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack on May 30, 2006. “There is a list of applications that exceeded the 90 MW created in 2005,” Galluzzo reports. “The bill says those on the waiting list from last year will be the first ones eligible for the credit. Luther College in Decorah is on this list and so will be eligible.”
Wind Power and Iowa Schools recommends an increase in the number of megawatts available for the state production tax credit. The report also urges the state to reserve a portion of the production tax credit specifically for educational institutions.
Other Policy Recommendations
Wind Power and Iowa Schools contains other policy recommendations that “focus on making the interconnection process simpler and fairer” to prevent utilities from discouraging school-based wind power:
- Require all utilities to net meter and allow schools to consolidate their meters for net metering.
- Require all utilities to purchase surplus power at a price that reflects the avoided cost of a new conventional, base-load power plant, plus an additional sum for the environmental benefits of wind power. Although the Forest City Municipal Utility buys the school district’s wind power at the same rate the school district pays for utility power, some utilities elsewhere in the state pay less than half as much per kilowatt hour for school-based wind power as they charge for utility power.
- Require the Iowa Utilities Board to issue a standard contract for interconnecting schools and utilities. Such a standard contract would eliminate complex negotiations and court battles.
- Ensure the continuance of the state’s Alternative Energy Revolving Loan Program (which provides interest-free loans of up to $250,000 for a wind-power project) and increase the amount of money available for such loans.
- Increase Iowa’s requirement for renewable energy (now 2% of total production) to 10% of total production, and require all Iowa utilities—not just those that are investor-owned—to comply with the requirement.
- Allow multiple schools to join forces for the purchase, operation, and servicing of wind turbines and to aggregate all of their meters for net metering.
- Allow schools to own turbines outside their district boundaries so schools located where too little wind is available can also benefit from wind power.
Educational Value
Apart from their economic and environmental benefits, school-based wind turbines have educational value. Galluzzo and Osterberg note in their report that “turbines have been incorporated in curricula at various grade levels and in various subjects.
“The pioneering Wind Energy and Turbine Technology associates program at the Estherville Campus of Iowa Lakes Community Colleges is the premier example of the educational potential of a turbine. This program instructs students in every aspect of turbine technology, as well as economics, management, mathematics, and computers using hands-on experience with the nearby turbine and the on-campus computer lab dedicated to the program.
“But even in primary and secondary schools, turbines have been used as resources for student learning. Of particular note is a book written by Spirit Lake [Community School District] first graders about their turbines.... For teachers interested in incorporating wind power or renewable energy into their lessons, there are a variety of resources available.”
Green Pricing
Increasing the availability of wind power will help to lower the cost of “green pricing” for utility customers who want it, Galluzzo says. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, issued an executive order in 2005 requiring the state to purchase up to 10% of its energy supply from renewable sources, and all utility companies in the state must offer their customers the right to purchase renewable energy.
Iowans who buy renewable energy now pay a surcharge that depends on the utility. “I’m getting 50% wind power, for which I pay about one cent per kWh,” Osterberg says.
In other states, some utility customers who have chosen wind-generated power have begun to pay less than those buying conventionally generated power, due to rising prices for natural gas.
Xcel Energy, based in Minneapolis, MN, provides service in 10 states and is Colorado’s largest single electricity supplier. The firm has 40,688 WindSource customers in Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico who have signed up to buy wind-generated energy. Colorado WindSource customers paid a $6 a month surcharge in 2005, but now they pay slightly less than those who receive conventional power.
Austin Energy, the municipal utility in Austin, TX, also has wind-power customers enjoying bargain rates. Because demand for wind-generated power now exceeds its supply, Austin Energy held a GreenChoice drawing in March to determine which recent applicants would join the program.
Environmental guru Lester R. Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, DC, cites these examples as harbingers of a future trend. He notes that the cost of wind-generated electricity has fallen from 38 cents per kWh in the early 1980s to four to six cents per kWh today.
“Wind energy is emerging as a centerpiece of the new energy economy, “ Brown says in an article for the Environment News Service, “because it is abundant, inexpensive, inexhaustible, widely distributed, clean, and climate-benign. Three of the 50 states—North Dakota, Kansas, and Texas—have enough harnessable wind energy to satisfy national electricity needs.”