Cedarville University's new 2,154 kilowatt solar array, which supplies, on average, 10 percent of the school's demand, is now hooked into its power grid, according to The Hannah Report. Cincinnati-based Melink Corporation, which constructed the array, said that it is "the largest solar system directly connected to a university in Ohio," the article said. For more, read this Cedarville University press release announcing the array.

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency released its quarterly National Top 50 List for Green Power Partners, which ranks the green energy usage of companies, governments and academic institutions that work with the EPA to procure and utilize green power, Dayton Business Journal reports. Only one Ohio entity – The Ohio State University – made the list. Ranked 38th, OSU was recognized for purchasing 24 percent – 141,000,000 kWh – of its total electricity use from the Blue Creek Wind Farm. For more, read the full story and access the National Top 50 list.

Returns on geothermal heating and cooling systems installed in Sylvania’s three new elementary schools are now expected sooner than the original estimate of 10 years, but just how soon “is not yet known,” The Toledo Blade reports. The systems, installed in Hill View, Maplewood and Central Trail Elementary during the last three years, use natural energy in the earth to reduce both energy use as well as cost. The upfront cost does exceed that of traditional systems; however, the lower operating cost “typically recovers that expense within 10 years,” the article said. For more, read the full story.

Next week, the Wright State Board of Trustees will vote on a plan that, if approved, will save Wright State University $35.8 million over the next 15 years by reducing its energy consumption nearly 40 percent, Dayton Daily News reports. On Feb. 15, the board will vote on a $25.2 million contract with ABM Industries Inc. to “modernize the heating and cooling plants at the university’s Fairborn and Lake campuses” by “eliminating 30 major pieces of equipment, tying the entire main campus to one main boiler system, replacing light fixtures with LED and using the pond near the Nutter Center for year-round geothermal cooling,” the article said. With annual maintenance cost savings estimated at $225,000, the new system will pay for itself in 12.7 years. For more, read the full story.

The Ohio State University announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with Iberdrola Renewables to purchase 50 megawatts of wind energy capacity – approximately 25 percent of the entire Columbus campus electricity load – from Blue Creek Wind Farm in Van Wert and Paulding counties, according to a press release from the school. This 20-year purchase agreement represents one of the “largest North American wind purchases by a non-utility purchaser,” the release said. For more, read the press release or this Business First story.

Charley Shin, who started the Charley’s Grilled Subs chain in Columbus in 1986, started another company there two years ago – Solar Planet, a company that finances and installs solar energy systems for organizations facing tight budget constraints like schools, municipalities, universities and nonprofit organizations, The Columbus Dispatch reports. One of Solar Planet’s first projects was a $6.5 million solar-panel installation for Centerburg Local Schools launched a few months ago that “promises to replace as much as 80 percent of the power that the schools currently buy from AEP,” the article said. For more, read the full story here.

Third Sun, a solar developer out of Athens,  financed the installation of 1,716 solar panels atop Kent State University’s field house that will generate enough electricity annually for 50 homes or “a third of the power consumed in the field house and nearby Dix Stadium,” The Plain Dealer reports. Third Sun will own the $1.5-million solar array for seven years, after which the university has the option to buy or change its power-purchasing contract, the article said. For more, read the full story here.

Two 190-foot-tall wind turbines behind Eisenhower Middle School in Oregon, Ohio, are up and running and expected to save the school district "between $2 million and $4 million in utility bills over the turbines' 25-year lifetime," The Toledo Blade reports. Sandusky-based SUREnergy leases the turbines to the school district, which, in addition to using the electricity produced by the turbines, also intends to sell renewable energy credits to electric companies, the article said. For more, read the full story here.

Athens-based Dovetail Solar and Wind will use "energy tax credits, accelerated depreciation and the sale of solar renewable energy credits" to finance the roof restoration of Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center – an arena and conference center – as well as the installation of 2,470 solar panels that will provide about 15 percent of the power used at the facility, according to an article in The Plain Dealer. For more, including information on other Ohio colleges and universities converting to solar power, read the full story here.

After showing initial interest in a solar energy plan developed by the Shaker Heights-based firm Carbon Vision, the Marietta City School District is no longer pursuing the project because the initially projected energy savings of $20,000 for the first year did not take into account the $60,000- to $80,0000-worth of savings that the district would experience each year over the next two years as part of an electric aggregation contract, an article in The Marietta Times reports. For more read the full story here.

With 315 projects, Ohio "leads the nation with more green school projects underway than any other state," according to a press release from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a private non-profit organization dedicated to the development of energy-efficient buildings. According to the USGBC website, the projects are certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which means that an independent third party verified that the projects use strategies "aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality." For more on this story, read the press release here. For more on LEED certification, visit the USGBC website here.

At a recent Marietta City School Board Meeting, members heard a presentation from Carbon Vision, a renewable energy analysis and project development firm, regarding a proposal to build a solar power system for the district. According to The Marietta Times, the company “would install solar arrays at schools at no cost to the district, in an arrangement that could save the district an estimated $20,000 savings in the first year.” In return, the company is asking the Board for a quick decision in order to take advantage of tax incentives. Read the full article here.

According to the Springfield News-Sun, Ohio’s Hi-Point Career Center is training students for manufacturing jobs in the renewable energy arena. The program’s initial focus will center on solar power. Read the full article here. More information on the Hi-Point Career Center is available here.

The Big Ten Conference won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2010-2011 College and University Green Power Challenge with the help of Ohio State University. The Big Ten won the competition by collectively purchasing more than 256 million kilowatt hours of certified "green" power under the terms of the competition. Penn State University led the Big Ten by purchasing 83.6 million kWh of green power, or 20 percent of its energy usage. Ohio State was third in the Big Ten, with 51.4 million kWh, or 9 percent of its energy usage. The Ivy League placed second in the competition, with roughly 200 million kWh in green power purchases.

Four state educational associations recently endorsed the electric generation savings offer of FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., for school districts located in the Ohio Edison, Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison and Duke Energy Ohio service areas. The endorsement is part of the Power 4 Schools Electric Program established by the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA), Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and Ohio Schools Council (OSC). Eligible schools in Northern Ohio that sign up for the program would receive savings on electric generation through 2019; eligible schools in the Duke Energy Ohio service territory would save through 2014. The four associations established the Power 4 Schools program to cut electricity costs and provide budget certainty to Ohio public schools. The associations estimate that the program could collectively bring as much as $80 million in savings to participating schools over the life of the agreement.

Bricker & Eckler represented the four statewide education associations in this transaction.  We have represented other public and private electricity and natural gas aggregation groups in Ohio to obtain benefits of aggregation for energy customers. Aggregation allows consumers to employ economies of scale in their negotiations with competitive providers, which results in better market access. At the same time, aggregation allows suppliers to avoid high initial customer acquisition costs, which makes retail power more accessible to residential and small commercial customers. Municipal electric aggregation in Ohio began nearly 10 years ago with the enactment of Senate Bill 3. Since then, more than 200 Ohio municipalities and other political subdivisions have passed opt-out electric and natural gas aggregation measures.  Bricker currently represents the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, the largest retail public energy aggregation in the United States.

Ohio State University and Colorado State University announced that they have created a shared leadership position to explore energy and environment-related research and economic development opportunities. The three-year position -- called the Vice President and Enterprise Executive for Energy and the Environment -- will be filled by Ron Sega, former astronaut and Under Secretary of the U.S. Air Force who currently serves as Colorado State's Vice President for Energy and the Environment. Sega, who obtained his master’s degree in physics at Ohio State, will split his time between Ohio State and Colorado State and serve as a full-time tenured faculty member in both institutions’ colleges of engineering.

Wind for Schools: A Wind Powering America Project (August 2009)

This brochure provides an overview of Wind Powering America's Wind for Schools Project, including: a description of the project, the participants, funding sources, the basic configurations, and how interested parties can become involved.