LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Taylor University takes down wind turbines because of cost of repairs 

Credit:  Cassidy Grom, Chronicle-Tribune | 7/5/2017 | indianaeconomicdigest.com ~~

UPLAND – Taylor University’s iconic turbines no longer tower over the flat landscape of Upland.

The university encountered a series of problems with the turbines and it would cost more than $50,000 to repair them, according to Director of Media Relations Jim Garringer.

“It is pretty hard to imagine, for me, that the turbines are coming down,” Taylor student Hallie Charbogain said. “It’ll be strange to drive onto campus and not see the turbines right away. I am sure it will take some getting used to.”

Students affectionately dubbed the turbines the “Olson Twins” because of the turbines close proximity to Olson Hall, where Charbogain lives. Charbogain and several other women in the dormitory could be seen wearing T-shirts featuring “Mary-Kate and Ashley” around campus last school year.

Taylor’s student newspaper, The Echo, reported in April that turbines, which had an initial price tag of $700,000, had not operated for nearly six weeks due to safety issues.

“A routine inspection on February 20 revealed a cracked and worn connector between the hub and blades on one of the turbines,” The Echo reported.

Shortly after they were erected in 2011, the company from which the university purchased the turbines went out of business.

The turbines have often been a point of conversation among students. In 2014 Echo Reporter Julia Oller mentioned the turbines’ grease stains that many students mistook as rust. Garringer said the nose of one of the turbines fell to the ground in the spring of 2017.

When the turbines were operating correctly, they provided 12 percent – that 12 percent saved the university $18,000 to $20,000 on their electricity bill.

They were erected in 2011 and helped Euler Science Complex achieve a gold certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Euler’s LEED gold certification is not likely to be revoked now that the turbines have been removed. In order for that to happen, Euler would also have to lose its solar panels and geothermal cooling system as well, Ron Sutherland, vice president for business administration, told the Echo in April.

“It just increasingly was a situation where we didn’t know if they were going to be operating or not,” Garringer said. He added that the university is looking into other alternative sources of energy including solar panels.

All Energy Management, LLC of Wisconsin started taking the turbines down on Saturday, June 17 and completed by Tuesday, June 20. The material from the turbines is being shipped to Europe to be repurposed or restored, according to Garringer.

Haley Heath lives toward the center of Olson Hall but she said the young women who lived at the end, closer to the turbines, could hear them swirl.

“They might enjoy the peace and quiet again,” she said.

Chronicle-Tribune reporter Navar Watson contributed to this article.

Source:  Cassidy Grom, Chronicle-Tribune | 7/5/2017 | indianaeconomicdigest.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon