Energy Organization Receives $2,500 Grant

A local energy organization received a $2,500 grant on Sept. 21 to fund the installation of a wind turbine and weather monitoring equipment at the high school.

The Windham Initiative for Renewable Energy (WIRE), was awarded the grant by State Farm Insurance. Applying for the grant on behalf of WIRE was Stacey Bruzzese, who is a representative from the Windham Endowment for Community Advancement. She worked closely with Jessica O'Neil, an agent for State Farm, to ensure that the process of acquiring the grant ran smoothly.

According to Bruzzese, her organization focuses on four different types of initiatives, and the WIRE initiative falls under the "environmental" area. According to the Windham Endowment website, the other three areas are educational, cultural and recreational.

The goal has always been to execute a green energy solution.

"We've been working with (WIRE) for about three years to grow their funds and raise money to put wind turbines up at the high school," said Bruzzese.

Those turbines, along with solar panels to be installed, could potentially harvest a wind and solar electric sytem.

Bruzzese explained that the everything is part of a "phase project". First, the turbines will be installed and a study will take place to determine how much wind is passing through the area.

After that initial step, the major purpose of the study is to see if enough energy can be produced to actually power a portion of the school. That will require more funding to pay for additional equipment.

Next year, Windham Endowment will try for a grant that is closer to $25,000, depending on what the organization could qualify for.

"What our goal is and what WIRE's goal has been all along is to be able to integrate this into the science and math curriculum," said Bruzzese." The additional dollars would allow us to do that on a longer term basis rather than just for a study period."

The board of directors for WIRE is made up of eight members, all of whom have been living in Windham for at least 10 years. The organization was inspired by David Hutchings, who was 13 at the time of its inception.