Jul. 19--DENVER -- Six rural schools in Colorado will receive money to install their own wind turbines, the Governor's Energy Office announced Thursday.

Among the six schools includes Walsh High School in Southeastern Colorado.

The turbines are coming to the schools through a federal Wind for Schools Program and is a collaborative effort by the office, Colorado State University, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Boulder-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Each school, the others of which are located elsewhere along the Eastern Plains, will install and operate a Southwest Windpower Systems 1.8 kilowatt turbine, which will generate only a small share of the schools' electrical needs. Still, they will help educate school children about renewable energy, Gov. Bill Ritter said.

"Educating today's young people about the benefits and mechanics of renewable energy systems prepares them for a wealth of future opportunities and demonstrates the crucial role our rural communities can plan in mapping out a new energy future for Colorado and the country," he said.

While the schools will use the new turbines as a teaching tool, they also will give local utilities the opportunity to learn how to integrate them into their power grids.

"It's a great fit for our area that wind is something we deal with all of our lives around here (and) it's great to see it finally put to some productive use," said Kyle Hebberd, superintendent of Walsh School District RE-1. "It'll increase the awareness around here about wind power. We see it as a steppingstone to a larger project that might make some difference financially for the school."

Most of the new turbines will be installed this summer. They cost about $12,000 to $15,000 each. The governor's energy office is paying $5,000 of that cost, with NREL contributing $2,500. The school districts will pick up the rest.

The program is an off-shoot of the Wind Powering America program begun by DOE and NREL in 2005. That began with a pilot project that led to one small turbine in Walsenburg.

cashby@chieftain.com

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