By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

Hays Daily News

Wind energy isn't the most economical way to go for the Victoria school district right now.

Nonetheless, Victoria's Linda Kenne urged fellow area superintendents to give some thought to considering doing a wind energy evaluation for their district.

William McDowell, a representative of Entegrity Wind Systems, Inc., out of Boulder, Colo., was in Hays Thursday giving a presentation to those attending the superintendent advisory council meeting at the Smoky Hill Education Service Center in Hays.

Entegrity constructs commercial-scale wind turbines for schools and small businesses to help control energy costs.

McDowell told the superintendents attending their monthly meeting at the Smoky Hill Education Center that Entegrity will help school districts figure out if a wind turbine would help them realize a savings from rising energy costs.

Kenne had an energy assessment done for Victoria last fall, and although it would have saved the district money, USD 432 didn't have enough money available to invest in a tower at this time.

"We would save money every month," Kenne said, "but to recoup the cost of the tower would take more than 10 years. If you had the money, it's definitely the way to go -- good energy, on your side of the meter so it's not messing up anybody's power grid and a 30-year lifespan."

"But," Kenne said, "for the short-time, we're cash strapped."

"We want to make sure there's good economics, make sure it makes sense for you," McDowell said.

The complete project, which costs between $150,000 and $200,000 and includes maintenance for the first five years, has had success stories in several surrounding states.

Quinter was the first high school in Kansas where Entegrity built a wind turbine, completed last fall. Now, Pratt Community College has three wind turbines, and Entegrity is working with several other schools, giving evaluations, as well.

"We really love working with Kansas sites," McDowell said. "Kansas is really important to us. It's in our backyard, and the wind definitely blows here."

Quinter Superintendent Allaire Homburg estimates that its wind turbine will save about $1,000 a month in energy costs.

"We'll be able to recoup their cost in a few short years," Homburg said.

Besides saving on energy costs, having a wind turbine at your school, McDowell said, can incorporate it into your curriculum in such subjects such as math and science and even history.

"Once we get it figured out how fast is the wind blowing, how much electricity iut's generating, there will be all sorts of projects with science and math," Homburg said.

More information can be found about Entegrity on the Web at www.entegritywind.com.

Reporter Diane Gasper-O'Brien can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 126, or by e-mail at dobrien@dailynews.net.