The Indianapolis Star is reporting that two schools in Central Indiana’s Union City have installed their own wind turbines.  What started as a science project has turned into a way for the school district to earn a projected $3 million dollars over the next couple of decades – just by selling power back to the community.  It’s a novel idea for schools looking for new sources of revenue.  And it’s a novel way of looking at power: the two turbines are owned by the school and the city government.

Credit: AWEA

Looks like it’s a trend.  Indiana has really pushed wind power recently, as anyone who has traveled North on I-65 knows, passing a giant wind farm along the way.  The American Wind Power Association ranks the state 12th in terms of the amount of installed wind power, with more than 1000 megawatts having come online since 2008; Ohio comes in at 32, and Kentucky trails at 49.

The economy has slowed wind power projects, and today there is a “dramatic drop,” the association says, in projects in the pipeline.  But they’re calling on Congress to pass a Renewable Energy Standard for the country, which would require that we get a certain percentage of our electricity from wind.  Whether that will find any traction – especially in an election year – remains to be seen.

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