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West Aurora outlines energy savings, plans more solar and electric buses
Summary
District staff and an outside consultant told the board the district has reduced energy costs through layered supply contracts, geothermal and on-site solar, and proposed community solar and electric-bus strategies while warning of rising grid capacity charges.
The West Aurora School District 129 Board of Education heard a detailed energy update on April 7 outlining recent savings from supply contracts, geothermal systems and on-site solar, and plans to expand community solar subscriptions and electrify buses.
District leaders said the combination of supplier contracting, efficiency projects and solar has produced measurable savings while the wholesale electricity market faces renewed volatility and a large, near-term capacity charge increase from the utility.
Becky Thompson, a third-party energy consultant working with the district, described the district’s supply approach as a layered purchasing strategy that limits exposure to market swings. "We are actually able to recently secure a product that was 36% lower than the previous contracted rate, through a term of 2029," Thompson said, and she estimated the district has avoided more than $300,000 in natural-gas costs since starting the program.
Thompson said layered purchases and a reverse-auction supplier selection process have paired with on-site solar to cut the district’s electricity usage about 30 percent compared with the start of the consultant engagement; she estimated energy cost savings from those efforts at just under $2 million. Associate Superintendent Dr. Angie Smith and facilities staff added that geothermal heating systems have sharply reduced gas use and that the district estimates about $400,000 in annual savings tied to geothermal operations.
The district reported $940,000 per year in total estimated energy savings from a mix of efficiency projects the board has already approved, including an estimated $120,000 a year from LED lighting, $125,000 a year expected from future electric-bus fuel savings, efficiency gains from newer dishwashers and trash compaction, and growing photovoltaic production. Pat Callahan, who has worked on facilities energy projects, described roof-by-roof solar work and a planned first ground-mounted array at Hergett as the next opportunities for on-site generation.
Because not every roof is suitable for panels, Thompson recommended a community solar subscription for sites the district cannot host, saying the district’s analysis found a developer offering a 20-year term at a 10% discount. Thompson said that arrangement carries an estimated contract-term savings of about $320,000 total, roughly $16,000 a year, and that credits would begin to appear on bills in early 2026.
Thompson also warned of a market change that will affect all ComEd customers: a grid reliability (capacity) charge that in her presentation increased by about 800% for the coming year, translating to roughly a 2.5-cent-per-kilowatt-hour increase in the utility’s example and lifting the effective commodity rate from about 6¢ to near 9¢ per kWh. "Through the purchasing strategies that we've done with Angie, we have been able to insulate you from a lot of those, but there will be still some impact to the district that you will see as a result," Thompson said.
On transportation, Dr. Smith told the board the district received a $500,000 grant tied to its automotive program and that the administration continues to track federal tax credits, tariff and incentive changes — including provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that could affect the financial case for buses and solar. She said the district will continue to evaluate roof-replacement cycles and other partnership opportunities to leverage additional incentives.
Board members asked how community solar billing would flow and whether 20-year contracts would lock the district into subscriptions for buildings with upcoming roof replacements; district staff said they excluded likely roof-replacement candidates from on-site solar planning and would evaluate community solar as a low‑risk option if federal incentives change.
The presentation concluded with staff saying the district will continue to monitor market volatility, federal policy changes and new incentives and return to the board with procurement items as specific projects and contracts are ready for approval.
