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Wind turbine takes bite out of school district’s power bill

MIDDLETOWN, Ind. (AP) – The superintendent of a central Indiana school district says a wind turbine installed two years ago is taking a big bite out of the district’s electricity bills.

The turbine generates 900 kilowatts of electricity and is meant to produce about 85 percent of the power needed by Shenandoah Schools’ elementary, middle and high schools in Middletown.

Superintendent Ron Green tells The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin that the district owed nothing on its December power bill thanks to the electricity the wind-driven turbine generated.

District Business Manager Julia Miller says the district is now paying between $105,000 and $112,000 annually for electricity. That’s about half of what it paid before the turbine went online.

Officials hope the $2.6 million turbine will pay for itself within a decade.