West Central Wind Turbine Testing to Begin March 26th

Posted on Author WKVI

The wind turbine at the West Central School campus has been built, but is it operational? Superintendent Charles Mellon was asked to give an update on the progress of the turbine.

“I think our utility company has finished their work and it looks like March 26th is when it could be started up. The people scheduled for us fly over from Germany and March 26th is when they would arrive to begin the commissioning process, which is 120 hours of documentation of things and making sure everything is running properly.”

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Update on West Central Wind Turbine Construction

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central wind turbine project was delayed for two days due to high winds in the area. Superintendent Charles Mellon said that the components arrived on the campus and crews were waiting to put up the base and the propellers. Those components were completed and put in place on Saturday. This week, electrical connections will be made and all of the components will be tested.

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Wind Turbine Project Delayed at West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI

The wind turbine project has been delayed at the West Central School Corporation.

“The components that are coming from Germany are here, but the tower itself is being manufactured in Tennessee. That component is being delayed as far as the manufacturing date. I think they had some issues at their factory so we’ve been pushed back to the week of January 9th,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon.

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West Central Schools Moving Forward with Wind Turbine Project

Posted on Author WKVI

The wind turbine project at the West Central School Corporation is moving along schedule.

“Sometime soon here in November, we will start having equipment coming in as far as the tower itself being erected,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “The cement base has been poured and it’s going through the curing process. Once the curing process ends in December, they will begin getting the wiring set up and doing all their testing. They still say that we would be functioning by the first week in January. I hope we stay on that schedule.”

West Central Wind Turbine Project Breaks Ground

Posted on Author WKVI
Rep. Doug Gutwein, R-Francesville, Performance Services President Tim Thoman, West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon and Pulaski County Commissioner Mike Tiede

West Central School Corporation representatives and student leaders, as well as parents and members of the press, were present to celebrate the start of construction on the school’s utility-grade wind turbine project. A ceremonial breaking of the ground was planned for Friday, Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m., but because of rain, the ceremony was held inside the auxiliary gymnasium and Superintendent Charles Mellon wisely decided against digging a hole in the gym floor to commemorate the occasion.

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West Central School Board Concerned about Enrollment Numbers

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board discussed enrollment at their meeting last week.

The Average Daily Membership (ADM) taken at the beginning of this year was 824 students compared to 865 last year. This translates to a $250,100 loss in state support as tuition money follows the student. The actual ADM count will be in September when all students are encouraged to be in class that day so the School Corporation can receive all the money it can for every student that is enrolled.

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West Central School Board Moves Forward with Wind Turbine Project

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board has decided to move forward with the wind turbine project.

“In the contract, there will be contingencies as far as whether or not we do proceed, but one of the largest issues had to deal with the insurance and that has been solved at this point in time,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon. “The connection point will be in the contract as a contingency and it is also being worked on at this time. This deals with NIPSCO where we want the connection to be prior to the meter so we can use the electricity ourselves that are generating. We are still waiting on the feed-in tariff regulations to be clarified and approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.”

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West Central Technical Review Committee Discusses Wind Turbine Project

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central Technical Review Committee met recently to discuss the wind turbine project.

“At our last meeting, we were actually going over the proposal from Performance Services, Inc.,” said Superintendent Charles Mellon, a Committee participant. “We talked about the identification of the site. It’s actually going to be on the AG plot. Of course there’s different studies including environmental studies that have taken place. We talked about the development plan and there’s still a lot of components yet to put in place. We’re still waiting on NIPSCO to finalize rates. The final meeting will take place February 25th. The earliest our Board would make a final decision would be on March 17th.”

If the project goes as planned, the turbine could be operational in November of this year.