Students in Utah schools are having their classrooms lit up and warmed up by a combination of wind, solar and geothermal energy sources. Those classrooms are also being funded by those same renewable energy projects.
This story from the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah’s School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration could make millions of dollars for the school trust over the next several years from alternative energy projects:
“In the last nine months,” said John Andrews, SITLA’s associate director, “the level of interest in [renewables] has gone through the roof.”
In January, managers issued the first lease for a wind-energy development on trust lands. The first new geothermal project in Utah in the past 20 years lies on state land. And SITLA is venturing into new solar technology that incorporates compressed-air storage as a way to keep the watts churning even when the sun doesn’t shine.
The quasi-governmental agency has leased 1,560 acres to a subsidiary of First Wind Energy, the developer of the Milford Wind Project that straddles the line between Millard and Beaver counties. The wind turbines could generate 27.5 megawatts, enough for 27,500 households. The wind company plans to sell the power to Los Angeles, Burbank and Pasadena in Southern California.
SITLA says the wind-farm lease is expected to generate several million dollars in revenue to the school trust over the initial
30-year lease.
The article says the agency is looking for several more wind-related leasing opportunities. And why not? Green energy that generates green for schools! Talk about a real education!