It's not often that you see a school district come up with a plan to cut costs and help the environment at the same time, but that's what's happening in New Berlin.

According to the State Journal Register, the school district there is considering building a wind turbine to help power its elementary school, a similar project was already approved in the nearby Petersberg Porta school district:

The Petersburg Porta School District expects to cut average monthly power bills of $25,000 for the junior and senior high schools to $5,000 to $10,000 a month when a wind turbine is switched on next spring, said School Superintendent Matt Brue.

The Petersburg district, which has an enrollment of 1,250, also is installing a geothermal system and a small solar project.

Brue said the turbine would supply about 80 percent of demand for the all-electric high school and middle school. Districtwide savings from alternative energy are projected at $400,000 per year. [...]

Only about a half-dozen public school districts statewide — there are a little more than 870 — are using wind energy, but the executive director of the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation in Chicago said the list is bound to grow as natural gas and electric bills continue to increase.

As we noted earlier this week, wind farms are becoming increasingly popular in Central Illinois as the cost of energy rises.