Wind turbines will save school districts cashBreezy Money

Wynford Local Schools Superintendent Steve Mohr is pleased with the results of the two wind turbines installed two years ago at the school in Holmes Township.

“One benefit educationally is that teachers can access data that is provided,” Mohr said. “They can monitor the kilowatts of energy and access different sites.”

The financial benefit has yet to be realized after two years, but Mohr said he’s confident that will occur. The turbines were installed in April 2011 by NexGen.

“It’s almost too early in the contract to tell about the savings,” he said.

The school now has a fixed cost for electricity usage for the next eight years, the superintendent noted.

“A lot of that is determined by the actual costs of electricity. But it should be a huge savings,” he said. “We should have a better feel for that this summer.”

Mohr said the arrangement is ideal.

“We have no costs to operate them,” he said. “They (NexGen) inspect them regularly and monitor them from Vermont by computer.

“They pay to put them up, maintain them and service them. It’s about the best deal I’ve ever negotiated.”

It’s estimated the project will account for about 30 percent of the electricity to both the high school and elementary school buildings. Wynford’s two turbines are 100 kilowatts and stand 130 feet tall and are not close to any residential property.

After two years, Randy Harvey also is pleased with the wind turbine project at Ontario Local Schools.

“It’s doing what we anticipated that it would do in regards to saving money,” said the Ontario treasurer.

The first year the wind turbines generated 212,000 kilowatts and another 194,000 in year two, he noted.

“We’ll average about 200,000 kilowatts per year if they’re working as we think,” he said.

Harvey estimated an annual savings of $8,000 in electricity, a number that should increase.

He said NexGen Energy Partners LLC installed the two turbines and also converted the elementary school from a secondary to a primary connection.

“That will save one cent per kilowatt in our Ohio Edison costs,” Harvey said. “Most of our cost savings is from that change.”

Ontario signed a 10-year contract with NextGen.

Harvey said classrooms will be able to tap into information and expand on the knowledge of wind turbines, how they generate energy and at what speed.

“We had no financial outlay except for a little less than $10,000 up front and we’ll get that back with energy credits,” he said.

Those credits begin in year six.

“This puts us at 10 percent of our electrical needs, and we’re 10 percent less dependent on the electrical grid that everyone uses,” Harvey said.