Mike Ryan is superintendent of Erie Community Unit School District 1 in Whiteside County northeast of the Quad Cities.

In April 2008, Erie CUSD 1 should finally realize a goal of powering its buildings with energy produced by its own wind turbine. The goal is one that has met some obstacles along the way, but in the long run, the benefits and cost savings will more than make up for any inconvenience and delay.

While we originally had hoped that the work would be completed by January 2007, a new timetable issued in December 2007 now calls for the wind turbine to be running by early April.

We believe this project is perhaps the most ambitious of its type, making Erie CUSD 1 the first district in Illinois to use a single wind turbine to generate energy for a multiple-site district. And it may make Erie the only existing school district in the nation to take on a project of this proportion and scope.

How did we get to this point?

Early in 2006, the district received a $25,000 feasibility grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF) to partner with Johnson Controls and look into installation of a turbine and tower on the southwest portion of the Erie Middle School grounds to disperse energy to the district's six buildings. A key item in the feasibility study was to provide analysis and breakdown of the district's energy use by meter to determine energy cost savings and how long it would take to recoup our investment.

After submitting its feasibility study and an application, the district was notified April 24, 2006, that it had received a $720,000 grant from ICECF for its project. Total cost of the wind turbine and an added air conditioning project would be $5.1 million, less the grant money, left the district with $4,380,000 to cover with bond sales, which were arranged through Harris Bank of Chicago.

That might sound like a lot of money, but the feasibility study and usage analysis showed the district could save $9 million in energy costs over the 30-year life of the turbine. That leaves a net savings of $4 million even after adding air conditioning to our elementary and middle school buildings, as well as our annex — a peripheral project the school board approved along with the turbine installation.

No district funds were used in this project and no tax increase was initiated to assist with the project.

After the initial project was outlined, it became apparent that it would be more cost effective to power just four of the six district buildings, leaving out the administration and transportation buildings. And because of generator availability and company experience, we opted for a larger wind energy converter than originally planned.

The wind converter turbine, purchased from Sea Wind Corporation, was built in the Czech Republic, shipped to the U.S. and then trucked to Erie using several semi-trailers.

The company responsible for excavation and pouring the concrete pad was to be ready to go in late August 2006. To give you an idea of the expanse of the area, let me put it in the perspective I was given: To fill a 42' x 42' x 8' pad, it takes approximately 70 cement trucks pouring continuously for up to six hours. It was hard for any of us to imagine this construction marvel!

Unfortunately, the best laid plans often encounter a kink. While work went ahead with new heating and air conditioning work on the three buildings as planned, the tower site work ran into problems.

A property line question was raised by an adjacent landowner and necessitated negotiations, which were handled by Johnson Controls. Now that the question has been settled, we're ready to get down to business again.

Our new timetable, presented to the board of education at its December meeting, calls for:

• Foundation pouring to begin February 2
• Erection of tower sections beginning February 29
• Installation of the generator, hub and rotor on March 6
• Running turbine at low load on March 27
• Running turbine at full load April 4-10

Much still is contingent on the weather and temperature, but we are hopeful to keep the construction pace into April.

Along the way, we have celebrated our successes, including a ceremony on May 30, 2006, that allowed visiting state dignitaries to voice their thoughts on our renewable energy initiative and provided an opportunity for traditional ground-breaking pictures. But our biggest celebration by far may be when the district begins saving money by generating its own power.