LM Nov-Dec_2021

The Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA), passed by the state of Illinois earlier this year, provides a unique opportunity for Illinois school districts to savemoney by installing solar panels on site at no cost. IASA recorded a podcast with Econergy CEO and Future Green Energy ConsortiumProgramManager Haj Young, as well as Future Green President, IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark, about how schools can take advantage of this opportunity. Below is a slightly edited transcript of that conversation. A Q &

IASA Podcast

Solar onSite: HowIllinois’ New Energy Law BenefitsSchools

Listen to the podcast in its entirety here. Sponsored by American Fidelity.

those conversations and has been saving member districts money on the supply portion of their monthly electric bill ever since. However, the goal all along was helping schools install solar panels on site at no cost. What were the challenges initially and what changed with the passage of CEJA? I think you cast it correctly in that the goal all along was to get schools in a position to start to transition to renewable energy sources. When we passed the bill, it allowed schools to have their own lane, their own private lane, to access what’s called renewable energy credits. Now what this

My name is Haj Young, and I am the CEO of Econergy and the program manager for Future Green. We worked with IASA, IASB and IASBO to create Future Green to help school districts in Illinois lower their overall energy costs and free up resources to use for wherever they want in their budgets. We help districts lower their supply costs, both gas and electric, and then we move them over to renewable energy, which offers the greatest long-term savings. In 2016, Illinois passed the Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA). Soon after, IASA, IASB and IASBO leaders met to discuss how to best utilize the new law to benefit member districts. Future Green was born from

Haj Young:

Dr. Brent Clark:

Jason Nevel:

10 LM Nov./Dec. 2021