Utility-School Partnership Saves Energy, Helps Community

With the official start of fall and public schools in full swing, teachers in the Tennessee Valley have added "going green" to their curriculum.

The Knoxville-based Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which provides electricity in parts of seven southeastern states, began a pilot of the Green Schools program in Tennessee schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Designed and implemented by the Alliance, the program fosters behavior change through hands-on, real-world learning about energy consumption and efficiency, all while reducing schools' energy bills. The program was so successful last year that it expanded this year.

Tools for Schools in the Tennessee Valley

Last school year, local project leaders assembled "Green Teams" at five participating schools located in the service territory of Johnson City Power Board (JCPB), a TVA power distributor in northeastern Tennessee. These squadrons of teachers, custodial staff, students and administrators followed the Green Schools planning process to develop customized lesson plans, opportunities to save energy in each school and strategies for encouraging students to take the energy efficiency message home and into the local community.

Among other activities, the Green Team trained students to perform energy audits and to work with custodial staff to identify no-cost energy-saving actions. Custodians also received training so they could integrate students' recommendations into their day-to-day facility management practices.

Students noticed that adults were taking action on their audit results, which made students try even harder to keep up their new energy-saving habits, said Jennifer Alldredge, local project leader for Johnson City Schools. She added that the program inspired students to continue being energy leaders, beyond the classroom.

Behavior Change Improves Schools' Bottom Line

The student action that sprung from the Green Schools program resulted in tremendous energy savings for Johnson City. In the 2009-2010 school year, the five participating schools collectively reduced their energy bills $32,743.

Johnson City is continuing the Green Schools program this school year, adding three additional schools. Based on the strong results of the Green Schools pilot, TVA plans to expand the reach of the program, with sponsorship ultimately provided by local power distributors.

"It's about one public institution lending a hand to another," said JCPB Director of Key Accounts Angela Shrewsbury. "Helping schools direct fewer resources toward energy bills and more in the future of our kids benefits the whole community," she added.

For more info

This article was one of several blog posts in a series on school-based programs sponsored by power utilities that deliver big energy savings and benefit the community. Read more and submit a comment about your own utility-school partnership.