Austin ISD ranks second nationally among school districts for renewable energy use

Austin ISD ranks second in the nation on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newest list of the largest green power users in K–12 schools during 2012, according to Paul Turner, AISD executive director of facilities.

Many school districts participate in the EPA's Green Power Partnership program, which encourages companies and organizations to use green energy and reduce environmental impact. Districts on the list were ranked in order of their green energy use, and the group's combined usage amounts to more than 177 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) of green power annually, according to the EPA.

AISD contracts with Austin Energy and participates in its Green Choice program, which allows the district to use environmentally friendly energy sources such as wind energy, Turner said.

"It's part of the total amount of energy that we use every year, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 million kilowatt-hours," he said, noting about 20 million kwh are green energy. He added the district has been a leader in the field for years, but with 107 million kwh of green energy, Chicago Public Schools now tops the list.

"The district sees this as kind of a validation and recognition of the overall commitment that we have to environmental stewardship and sustainability, and we're grateful that we're still being recognized as one of the leaders in this across the country," Turner said.

Round Rock ISD ranked third in the nation by the EPA Green Power Partnership for its renewable energy use in 2012, according to a district news release. RRISD was ranked on the EPA's Top 20 K–12 Schools list for the amount of green power that school districts use. The EPA's report shows that RRISD purchased 15,567,055 kwh of wind energy, which is 23 of its total electricity used for the year.

Two other school districts in the Austin metro area also made the list:

Lake Travis ISD ranked 10th with 956,000 kwh of green energy, or 14 percent of the district's total electricity used.

Pflugerville ISD ranked 20th with 996,000 kwh of green energy, or 10 percent of the district's total electricity used.