By Erasmus Baxter
A plan for Western to help fund the construction of a wind farm is drawing support from groups across Western’s campus.
“Western can build a wind farm with other large energy purchasers in our region like Evergreen and Microsoft,” Galen Herz, Co-President of Students for Renewable Energy, said to a group of supporters. “And the energy this wind farm creates will be attributed to our university and drop our carbon emissions by a third. Which is huge!”
Conducted through Western’s electricity provider Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the plan would charge a 5 percent premium on Western’s electric bills over the span of 10 years. That money would be pooled with that of other program enrollees to pay off the cost of building a new wind farm southeast of Olympia.
ABOVE: Students “mill about” in support of renewable energy. The pieces of white cardboard in their hands represent the potential wind turbine. Photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review
On November 30, the Sustainable Action Fund (SAF) committee voted to support the proposal, moving it one step closer to reality. This vote was important as SAF funds would be used to pay the premium for Western’s involvement in the program. After a briefing by someone familiar with the process, supporters of the project said that with support from the SAF committee, the project is likely to be accepted by the university administrators who must ultimately approve the project.
Later that day, the AS Board of Directors passed a resolution in support of the wind farm plan noting that “Western Washington University is dedicated to being a leader in societal problem solving.”
The day before, around 30 students assembled on the lawn in front of Old Main to form a human windmill. As they rotated they chanted in favor of wind power. Speakers, including Herz, emphasized the global impact of climate change, and the need for leadership.
“A lot of other people outside of the United States, countries in the Global South, Indigenous People, they have a lot more at stake, and they didn’t cause this problem,” Herz said. “There’s a very strong component of justice with climate change, that countries in the Global North, mostly wealthy, white countries, really need to take action to reduce climate change and make sure there is a just transition [away from fossil fuels].”
After windmilling for around 10 minutes, the students entered Old Main to deliver a petition supporting the wind farm project to administrators. The delivered petition had over 490 signatures from students and faculty. As of November 30 it had over 530 signatures online.
Keenan Murray, a sophomore, was part of the outer blade in the human windmill. He sees transitioning away from fossil fuels as one of the most important things for his generation to accomplish.
“Things are already getting pretty bad,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of talk about how Western is a sustainable campus, and I think people have a sense of that. That’s Western as a community, and so it would be cool if they could actually act on that and make some concrete steps.”
Petitions were delivered to the offices of President Randhawa and the University Vice Presidents who must approve the project. Those who received them were friendly and supportive. Mark Brovak, Chief Operating Officer for the Western Foundation, said that while he couldn’t speak for the foundation, he was personally excited about the project.
The program has been years in the making. PSE is a state-run energy company and had to receive approval from state regulators for the program. However, if not enough institutions commit to the project it will not go forward. PSE needs to begin the project within the next year to take advantage of a clean energy tax benefit that is set to expire.
Currently Western uses the SAF to purchase Renewable Energy Credits or RECs to offset the carbon released in the production of its electricity. The SAF is funded by a fee to students that was originally created to buy RECs, but has since been used to fund a variety of campus projects. The total cost of this program is estimated to be a decrease from the cost of purchasing RECs and would free up SAF money for reinvestment in other campus projects.
While the electricity from the wind farm would not be used directly by Western’s campus, it would constitute an equivalent increase in the amount of renewable energy produced. Due to regulatory restrictions PSE is limited in how much renewable energy they can produce and this program is a way around that limit, according to PSE representatives.
Supporters of the project have also pointed to an additional benefit: a wind turbine with Western’s logo on it.
ABOVE: AS Environmental & Sustainability Programs Director Anna Kemper presents the wind farm petition to university administration. Photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review