Our New Website

The Power Smart Pricing team has updated the Power Smart Pricing website (www.powersmartpricing.org)!

We are excited about the new features that the website now offers our current participants. Check out the new way to get daily prices by clicking on the “Hourly Prices” menu option. Now you can view (and print) the prices in a graph or table format where the day’s prices are color coded. A green bar indicates a low priced hour (less than 8 cents), a yellow bar is in the middle (8 to 13 cents), and a red bar is a high priced hour (above 13 cents).

In the new “Participant Tools” menu option, you can check out our web gadgets, learn about seasonal energy saving tips, and link to the Ameren login page to view your personalized online tools.

There is also a link to the PowerSmart Pricing blog www.powersmartpricing.blogspot.com). As many of you have already seen, it’s a frequently updated source of program news and interesting energy related stories.

As the number of Power Smart Pricing participants grows everyday, we’ve found that the participants themselves are great sources of information about how to succeed on the program. We work to provide the best possible information, and participants can be a great source of advice as well. That is why are we are beginning to build the foundation for new online social networking groups. Check out our new Facebook group called Power Smart Pricing!

Thank you for your participation in Power Smart Pricing. If you have any ideas about how to get the best possible value from the program, try using some of the online tools so other participants can hear your great ideas! And of course, if you want to talk, our staff is always more than happy to take your call.

The Story of Bureau Valley High's Wind Turbine

I have already written about Monticello High School and its strive to be energy efficient, but there is another Illinois school that needs to be heard as well. Bureau Valley High School in Manlius, IL has a 660 kW Vestas wind turbine. The catalyst for the project was the dedication of a hog farmer from Northern Illinois named Keith Bolin. Most folks tend to be racing along through life a little too fast to consider the energy of the natural elements around them, but Bolin could not help but sense the wind energy in the area. The thoughts of his children and grandchildren led him to one conclusion, installing a wind turbine at the local high school.

The school district applied for their first grant in July of 2002 and received $20,000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to hire a consultant to review their site. After careful review and study from local Monmouth College, the site was accepted and they received an additional $480,000 in grant money. That accounted for about half of the needed resources, and the rest was acquired through a bank loan and some money from the school’s operation and maintenance fund.

Altogether Bolin expects total revenue for the project to be about $1.6 million. Superintendent Rick Stoeker said that after the first two months it looked as if the project would save the school district approximately $100,000 each year, or as Bolin puts it “two teachers a year.”

"I'm just a dirt hog farmer. I'm not the smartest guy on the block," Bolin said, but "somebody had to take the bull by the horns."

His great volunteer effort is an example of community organizing driven by a meaningful purpose to pursue a concrete tangible result. Bolin’s success came from including the community, the local governments, and business professionals to find a common solution. Many rural schools across America already have access to renewable energy with either wind or solar power. The rest is dedication.

Three other school wind projects are in development in Illinois at:
- Erie Community Unit School District No.1 , Whiteside, Rock Island and Henry counties , IL, 1.2 MW
- Keeneyville School District , Keeneyville , IL, 66 MW
- UPDATE: University of Illinois , Urbana-Champagne , IL, three 1.5 MW turbines - Cancelled

For more information on wind power in Illinois go to http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/astate_template.asp?stateab=il

Holiday Wishes from PSP Participant

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the Northern hemisphere’s winter solstice holiday, practised within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion or secular practises of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or the choice to not practise secular or religious traditions at all…and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contribution to society have helped made our country great (not to imply that our country is necessarily greater than any other), and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, veteran status, choice of computer platform or sexual orientation of the wishee.

Use of the term "Holiday" herein is not intended to, nor shall it be considered to be, limited to Judeo-Christian celebrations or observances, nor to such activities of any organized or ad hoc religious community group, individual or belief (or lack thereof). In particular, the word "holiday" is used herein without reference to its etymology.

Note: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal, and is revocable ab initio at the sole discretion of the wisher at any time, for any reason or for no reason.

This greeting is freely transferable provided that there is no alteration to the original greeting text. Any transfer is to be at the risk of the transferor who, by making such transfer, thereby agrees to hold the wishee harmless from any and all adverse consequences resulting from such transfer.

This greeting implies no promise by the wisher to actually take any action or fail to take any action to implement any of the wishes for the wishee her/himself or others, or responsibility for the consequences which may arise from the implementation or non-implementation of same.

This wish is expected to perform as expected within the customary and usual application of good tiding for a period of approximately one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This greeting is void where prohibited by law, custom or policy and is offered irrespective on any card, hard copy or embarrassingly self-indulgent letter summarizing achievements in 2008, however mendacious, which may or may not have been purveyed by myself or any member of my extended family.

In Other News…

The Vatican Goes Solar!

Vatican City has just installed 2,400 photovoltaic solar panels on the 5,000 square meter roof of Nervi Hall where popes hold general audiences when the weather is poor. Since he was elected in 2005, Pope Benedict has drawn attention of the faithful to “the unbalanced use of energy” in the world and has remarked that environmental damage is making “the lives of poor people on earth especially unbearable.”

The solar panels were a donation by the German companies SolarWorld and SMA Solar Technology that will power the Nevri Hall when it is use and feed the Vatican City main power grid on off hours. So when I asked you all to consider donations to your church in the form of weatherization and energy efficiency, I wasn’t exactly thinking about a $1.6 million dollar solar array. But, if you have the means then I’m sure you will find someone willing to accept it….

As much as this is a symbol of environmental change, it also highlights what I find to be the most important part of the new green movement and that it is an investment in lowering our energy costs. Beyond just being good stewards of the earth for those who come after us, it is essential to rebuild our country into a more efficient, cheaper place for all of us to live.

Help Keep your Neighbors Warm this Season

Ameren’s Warm Neighbors program has provided bill payment assistance and home weatherization for qualifying customers since 1982. As part of the Energy Assistance Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, founded by Illinois Power (now Ameren IP), has helped weatherize more than 5,500 homes and provided heating assistance to over 76,000 households.

During this holiday season, Ameren Illinois Utilities is making it even easier to help those in need with the Dollar More program. Beyond just donations, you can purchase gift certificates that can be used toward electricity or natural gas service bills for any Ameren customer.

The winter can be a costly time for organizations that have been struggling with rising costs for a long time. It is easy to think of the public places that open their doors to you and your loved ones like a church, a senior center, a food bank, or a veterans’ organization. Making a donation contributing to their utility costs can help them maintain the quality services they offer to your community.

As a nonprofit that hopes to upgrade our homes and buildings to become energy efficient, we strongly encourage giving to those organizations that help weatherize like Warm Neighbors as it is an investment that will go beyond its initial dollar amount.

To learn more visit the Ameren Web site (www.ameren.com), selecting "My Home," then "Special Programs & Services," then your Ameren Illinois Utility.