Chicago goes to the energy source: Projects get their power from the sun and wind

By Lorna Collier

Thanks to the city of Chicago's aggressive efforts and millions of dollars in state and local funds, alternative energy and conservation initiatives are multiplying as never before.

Perhaps the most visible venture is Spire Solar Chicago, a 2-year-old subsidiary of Bedford, Mass.-based Spire Corp. Spire Solar was persuaded to come to Chicago by $8 million in guaranteed business offered by Commonwealth Edison Co. and the city, and has been installing solar systems atop the roofs of museums (including the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Field Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago), schools and other buildings.

One of Spire's systems is at the new Midwest Center for Green Technology, 445 N. Sacramento Blvd., a former contaminated industrial site being rebuilt as a green showplace. The center, expected to open in October, will house Spire's manufacturing plant, a city job-training program and a public design studio.

Spire Solar also is working with the city, the state and ComEd to build a renewable energy farm at an abandoned landfill near Calumet City. The 10-acre site is expected to become the nation's largest solar power-generating facility.

"In the short time we've been involved, Illinois has really leaped to the forefront (of solar usage), especially outside the Sun Belt," says Mark Burger, sales manager at Spire Solar Chicago.

Funding for solar and other alternative energy projects comes from four sources and totals about $400 million, says Howard A. Learner, president and executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center. The city has a $100-million fund, supplied by ComEd; the state has about $80 million in two funds; and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Fund contains $243 million, primarily supplied by ComEd. Mr. Learner is a trustee for the community fund, which plans to award $15 million later this year to Illinois programs that improve energy efficiency, develop renewable energy resources like wind and solar power, or preserve natural areas.

If spent wisely, these funds "could make Chicago and the Midwest the epicenter of renewable energy in the whole nation," predicts Said Al-Hallaj, associate professor and energy researcher at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Other notable projects:

• Wind plants being developed in Mendota and Princeton will produce 30 to 50 megawatts of power and cost $30 million to $50 million each. Wind turbine manufacturer NEG Micon USA Inc. in Rolling Meadows is supplying both projects and installing a $900,000 wind turbine in Champaign.

• Chicago is investing in numerous conservation activities, including replacing all traffic lights with light-emitting diode bulbs, cutting costs by 85%. The $15-million project is expected to pay for itself in three years. A roof garden installed atop City Hall for $1.5 million is saving $4,000 to $5,000 per year by cooling the roof.

• The Illinois Institute of Technology founded IITCare, for Chicago Area Renewable Energy, to help businesses adopt solar and other technologies.

The increasing activity raises some questions: How efficient are today's alternative systems and will they replace traditional energy sources?

Spire's museum systems, while high in the gee-whiz factor, have not saved money. They cost about $500,000, excluding government incentives, but save less than a fraction of 1% of energy costs, says Mr. Burger. However, he notes that the museum systems are intended more to spark interest in solar energy than to slash bills.

"The real impact that these systems would make is if you put them on all these acres and acres of flat-roofed one- and two-story buildings that are all over the place," he says.

About 26 city schools will have Spire systems in the next two years. So far, the six schools that have had the systems installed are saving 1% to 3% annually, says Paul Wallace, renewables project manager for ComEd. Each system costs about $110,000, excluding incentives.

Solar- and wind-power customers may save more money as more green power is sold to more businesses, says Mr. Wallace.

But even if costs drop, "solar will always be a special kind of energy," says Roger Little, CEO of Spire Corp. "It won't ever be able to compete with big gas-fired plants," but will save money during peak usage.

Mr. Burger predicts wind energy, which is more cost-effective, will become more popular more quickly, carrying solar along with it. Wind power right now is less than a half-percent of total energy produced in the U.S. He expects this to grow by about 1% a year.

"Wind power can be only so much of the overall mix, because it's an intermittent resource as opposed to a dispatchable one," says Stefan Noe, whose Chicago-based company, Illinois Wind Energy LLC, is developing the Princeton wind plant. Mr. Noe expects wind power to tap out at 10% to 20% of the overall energy picture.

Mr. Al-Hallaj believes that alternatives will become more popular as their prices drop, and that the U.S. has "the brain power and resources" to become energy-independent within 10 years — given strong leadership, which is what he believes has made the difference in Chicago.

"When we go to conferences, I brag about what our city is doing to other scientists," says Mr. Al-Hallaj. "I'm so proud of Chicago."

© Copyright Crain's Chicago Business, 2001