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School district details roadmap to 100% renewable energy; council hears district’s plan
Summary
Middleton‑Cross Plains Area School District officials described a McKinstry‑prepared five‑phase facilities roadmap intended to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035, highlighting recent solar installs, a facilities condition inventory of 3,000 assets, sequencing to avoid premature rooftop solar purchases, and budget tradeoffs including geothermal cost concerns.
District officials told the Middleton Common Council on Feb. 17 that a McKinstry facilities assessment and five‑phase roadmap lays out a path to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035 while balancing capital replacement schedules and costs.
Kelly Hillyard, the city’s sustainability coordinator, introduced the presentation; Jared Rosen, assistant superintendent of operations, and Aaron Wheeler, director of finance and operations, described a discovery phase that inventoried roughly 3,000 district assets — boilers, roofs, HVAC and kitchen equipment — and produced a condition report used to prioritize work. Rosen said that sequencing matters: installing oversized solar arrays before addressing building shell or HVAC inefficiencies risks over‑sizing and higher costs.
Rosen said the district has completed many “low‑hanging fruit” measures and added solar to six schools; phase one focuses on upgrades where replacement timelines align with solar or efficiency investments. The district declined one expensive geothermal scope and emphasized leveraging federal incentives and grants where available while using normal capital replacement dollars where possible.
Councilmembers praised the district’s work as replicable and asked about timelines and tradeoffs. No formal council action was required; staff and the district said they would continue conversations about funding, sequencing and future phases.
What happens next: The district and staff will continue discussions with council on timing and funding for later phases; councilmembers suggested the district’s approach could serve as a model for other municipal or school projects.
