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Creighton School District Superintendent Jay Mann
Picture your middle school. Now, imagine a giant solar array on the roof, a fully electrified building powered in part by geothermal energy, and heat pump rooms encased in glass so students can learn about the mechanics of their school firsthand.
It might sound too cool to be true, but this is the vision behind Wisconsin’s second net-zero school, Maplewood School, mere months from completion. It’s been just over three years since this exciting idea took hold and two years since the community overwhelmingly approved the project through a 2022 referendum.
Now, the school is getting ready to open its doors this fall—an accomplishment made possible in large part to financial support via the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) direct pay (also called “elective pay”) provisions. Those provisions allow local governments and other entities like non-profits and Tribal governments that don’t pay taxes to still benefit from the IRA’s tax credits when they deploy clean energy. This is a big deal because it expands clean energy opportunities to groups with smaller budgets, to the benefit of all of us.
A rendering of the exterior of Maplewood School, Wisconsin’s second net-zero school. Construction of Maplewood is mere months from completion.
And it’s not just Maplewood that’s leaning into a greener, cleaner, and healthier design with this boost of federal funding. Menasha Joint School District is joined by a growing number of school districts across the country that are turning to clean energy projects to help tackle rising energy costs, shrinking budgets, and escalating extreme weather events.
By allowing schools to own and benefit from their energy sources, direct pay helps break down the financial barriers that often prevent educational institutions from making the transition to renewable energy. It’s a decision that’s good for everyone—from student to parent, teacher to taxpayer. Schools can now harness the full potential of solar power, cutting electricity bills, creating a healthier environment for students, and freeing up funds for crucial investments in classrooms, teachers, and student programs.
From historic districts in Wisconsin to the center of Phoenix’s urban heat island, direct pay has opened the door to an affordable, reliable, and clean energy future. Evergreen reached out to two of these districts to discuss their projects and how the IRA helped bring them to life.
Here’s what they had to say:
The school year is getting hotter and hotter across the country, making it harder for students to learn and harder for A/C systems to keep up.
In Creighton, Arizona, the school district took a holistic, “triangle” approach to its clean energy projects that will lower energy costs, keep students safer, and help the climate. After hearing that funding opportunities through the IRA could help cover 40 percent of solar costs, Creighton School District jumped on the opportunity and added the installation of solar panels to their list of projects—along with tree plantings and shade structures.
In planning, the district made a distinct effort to emphasize environmental stewardship and incorporate climate science into its curriculum, along with the updated energy systems to help protect students from intense heat and save the district money from skyrocketing utility bills.
Evergreen: What was your thought process when developing your approach to embracing clean energy within the district? Were there any specific considerations or goals you had going into the project?
Superintendent Jay Mann: We’re in urban Phoenix. We’re part of the big heat island and we suffer with that heat island in a couple of ways, including the cost of our utility bills for air conditioning in our schools. And the challenges of having our kids outside in August, September, and even sometimes into October—this year, I don’t think we got away from 111-degree days until the second week of November—and then again in the spring, we have the same challenge.
Construction of a solar canopy for a Creighton School District parking lot.
Anything we can do to mitigate heat for our students is really important and valuable. We’ve really tried to take a holistic approach. What we’re trying to do is, what are the goals of the district? On one end of the spectrum, you have the financial aspect of things. If there’s a way we can save money on our utility bills, that same funding mechanism of maintenance and operation dollars that pay our utility bills is what we pay our teachers with. So if you can save $65,000 a year on utilities, you can put one more teacher in the classroom.
Evergreen: Did learning about the financial incentives through the IRA and direct pay have any effect on your planning process? How will this additional funding impact your district and community?
Jay: It was absolutely massive. For me, the math that happened in my head was, 'All of a sudden, this is affordable.' It used to be that the only way that the schools could realize those dollars was when those dollars went back to a partner and that’s what pushed people into those partner agreements and in many cases people ended up upside down or benefit minimally.
If the government is going to invest in something, investing in what is truly the community seems to be where that investment should be going instead of investing in larger profits for corporations. It helps the economy too. That’s another great thing. Those dollars come back into our community and help bolster our local economy. The more benefit you can put into the public good, that comes back tenfold into the community.
Coming this fall, Menasha School District will be home to the state’s second net-zero school.
In planning, the district mapped out a facility that completely eliminates reliance on oil and gas, and instead utilizes geothermal heating systems, heat pumps, and a 1.15 MW solar array consisting of over 2,700 panels.
The new clean energy system is projected to save $140,000 annually and slash carbon dioxide emissions by 803 metric tons each year.
Evergreen: How do you think this project is going to impact the community?
Director Brian Adesso: It will be a cleaner environment for students. I think it’ll also add to students learning as a person about what can be done with clean energy and what that looks like in practice. I think regionally it will also help other school districts by providing a roadmap to follow since they won’t be the first ones. So when they’re looking at projects and things, they’ll follow our lead and net zero schools will be more common in the future.
A rendering of the interior of Maplewood School.
Overall, the project for all of our students has been really great. It opened them up to the construction industry. We’ve had tons of engineering classes and construction classes go through it from our own district, we had our staff go through the building and learn about construction careers. It’s opened everything up for students; middle school and high school students are going through the project so kind of involving the kids there to open them up to other career choices.
Evergreen: What advice would you give to other schools—both in Wisconsin and across the country—looking to start similar projects with the support of direct pay incentives?
Brian: Really dig into the Inflation Reduction Act. It’s a huge tool that the community can get assistance from for doing things that are going to save them money over the long haul and get a payback. A lot of the things like geothermal are the same price if not cheaper than an HVAC system so when you really look at the math, it makes sense.
Most of the technologies we’re deploying have already been deployed in other schools. We just don’t talk about it comprehensively. The IRA can be a beast but when you step back and know that you get $3-5M the work is worth it.
The IRA’s direct pay provisions are bringing previously out-of-reach opportunities to school districts across the country by making sure the folks who educate our kids can unlock federal dollars to make their schools safer and better. Schools want to spend less on energy bills—and more on students and staff. The IRA tax credits make this possible by making solar panels, battery storage, and microgrid systems affordable. School districts across the country take note: Creighton and Menasha represent just the start!
Author - Emily Halvorson
Emily is the state program press secretary for Evergreen. They have devoted their career to political advocacy in state governments to highlight the power of states and their constituents to bring about vital progressive change.
Author - Medhini Kumar
Medhini is the writing/editing digital lead for Evergreen. Through powerful storytelling, she hopes to help move the needle on climate policy and contribute to our collective fight for a livable planet.
