District Administration - November/December 2010 - (Page 36)

ARRA Funds Empower Schools to Power Down an energy policy, hiring an energy manager, and establishing a district energy team, while assessing performance involves reviewing utility bills, establishing baseline data, and performing building assessments to identify potential opportunities for district savings. “We believe the energy managers, by following this strategic process, can establish a sustained eﬀort that focuses on energy eﬃciency and making wise choices over time,” Willhite says. For example, a district might be paying utility costs for a building that is no longer used as a district building and “just fell oﬀ the radar screen,” he says. By becoming informed about utility tariﬀs and persistently reviewing bills, district oﬃcials can avoid inadvertent costs. Willhite adds that since coming on board in July, the energy managers have been busy getting acquainted with their districts, collecting baseline data, forming teams, and auditing utility bills. All of the public school districts have adopted an energy policy, and many, under the leadership of the energy manager assisted by the KEEPS staﬀ, have formed district energy teams. In addition, some energy managers have established teams in each school within the district. And KEEPS engineers have begun performing building energy assessments, Willhite says. To date, energy managers have identiﬁed nearly $700,000 in savings by correcting for billing errors, such as misapplication of a rate schedule, disconnecting service where it is no longer needed, and correcting meter reading errors and inappropriate application of sales tax. Idaho’s Hope for Sun When you think about harnessing solar energy, you probably think of states like Arizona, California, Florida and New Mexico—which have plenty of it and have beneﬁted from ARRA funding. You wouldn’t necessarily think of Idaho. But solar energy is exactly what that state is considering in order to save school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs. Although Idaho is a low-cost energy 36 November/December 2010 state, meaning conventional energy sources are relatively cheap in Idaho compared to other states, it does have very good solar potential, mainly in the southe metering bin of the new biomass plant at Winnisquam (N.H.) Regional School District has a viewing window and wood chip level sensor. It’s located on top of the chip delivery conveyor belt with a sensor that controls when the furnace needs more wood. Construction workers install the fascia and shadow boards to the biomass building behind the high school at Winnisquam Regional School District. e biomass plant, which was a $3.5 million project, was up and running in October 2010. ern part of the state and in the warmer months. Idaho’s Solar Panels for Schools Project, administered by the state’s Oﬃce of Energy Resources, is investing $2.5 million of ARRA funds into ﬁve to 10 pilot projects to determine how valuable solar energy could be to the northwestern state, according to Paul Kjellander, the program administrator. Some of the questions on solar energy include the cost of integrating the new energy technology in the already existing power system and how to maintain and operate the system, he says. “Is having a large-scale utility-sized solar project the most cost-eﬀective [energy project] in the state today?” Kjellander asks. “No, it’s not. But at some point, it may well be,” he says, adding that the pilot project may provide answers for how solar energy might be integrated into the system. Solar energy providers are growing in Idaho, and even Idaho Power, which is the largest utility company in the state, has installed some solar panels on buildings, Kjellander says. District leaders will be able to apply to have one school building be part of the pilot project, which will start next spring. It will be a competitive process that will be based in part on how energy eﬃcient their buildings already are. “We want to see it on buildings that are geared to use less energy and have the potential not to waste it, and kick the solar energy back into the system,” Kjellander says. e projects in the pilot program will be designed to collect data on how much power is being used and how much money is being spent. “If we can ﬁnd a resource that matches our consumption, could it or should it be priced more?” Kjellander asks. “Does solar ﬁt the bill? As we look at District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - November/December 2010

District Administration - November/December 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Black Children Still Left Behind
ARRA Funds Empower Schools to Power Down
A Call for Technology Leadership
Readers Pick Top 100 Products of the Year
Going Mobile
Superintendent’s Insights
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion
Student Counsel

District Administration - November/December 2010