Students seek to double wind energy support
A recent proposal could increase wind energy sponsorship

The Student Government Association (SGA) at Messiah College recently voted to propose expanding campus support of wind energy. The proposal requests a $6 increase in tuition for five years to double the College’s sponsorship of wind energy. College administrators will consider the proposal this fall as they plan the budget for the 2006–2007 academic year.

For the past two years, the SGA has applied $12,000 of Messiah’s student activities fee to sponsor the equivalent of 2.5 percent of the total energy used at the College, or roughly the amount of energy it takes to power the Larsen Student Union.

“Messiah’s support of wind energy helps to expand the amount of energy contributed by renewable sources to the standard energy grid,” says Grace Diehl ’06, who has helped to research wind energy. “While the electricity Messiah uses does not come directly from a wind turbine, our sponsoring of the College’s energy equivalent allows for the expansion of this form of renewable energy elsewhere.”

The sponsorship, run through Community Energy, Inc., joins Messiah College with more than 60 other colleges and universities across the nation that sponsor renewable energy. Community Energy, Inc., is a leading marketer of wind-generated electricity. The company markets power from more than 200 megawatts of wind energy in New York and the Mid-Atlantic.