North Carolina Electrical Costs are expected to rise 17% between 2024 and 2026

And it is just the beginning

At the same time that North Carolina’s funding level for K-12 schools as a portion of our state’s economic activity has us ranked 48th in the nation, and our state Legistlature has already put budget cuts in place to reduce school funding even further, and federal government officials are continuing to reduce funding for school systems across the country, another threat is looming – rising energy costs.

Based on national data, American K-12 schools spent $9 billion dollars annually on energy a few years ago. In North Carolinda, energy costs are about 8% of the overhead of our K-12 public schools. These costs are going to rise rapidly, and this will impact many of our kids at underfunded schools.

You may have read at least one of my many Optimistic Futurist articles explaining that stuffy classrooms lower learning, and that EPA has found about half of all schools’ indoor environments lower learning at least one letter grade. I have also explained that we have been involved in conducting more than 850 surveys of North Carolina K-12 schools, and found 40% lower learning one letter grade, and 10% lower learning two letter grades. This is largely a problem caused by schools constructed so long ago that the only way they could bring in fresh air was to open windows. Now, in response to security concerns the windows have mostly been screwed shut.

All old HVAC machines are energy inefficient, resulting in the need for the school to run their equipment at high speed for long hours. On top of that, school energy use is increasing due to rising average temperatures and humidity from climate change.

And then along comes ChatGPT and other energy-gobbling Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

Because of the massive computer centers that are required by AI processing, there is a rapidly growing increase in the demand for power in our state, now projected to be eight times the growth rate planned for just two years ago.

The cost of all electricity from any new power plants costs more than the electricity produced by already built and working power plants. The cost of these new generation plants will be borne by all customers – including our schools. And when electricity costs go up, so do school electric bills -but as explained above, schools will not have the money to pay their bills.

The only solution (other than funding our schools better) is for schools to use less electricity.

Seeing the trouble that lies ahead, we have been exploring easy-to-implement solutions that can be implemented either by school system staff, local small business, or volunteers. We think we found one but need your help to make sure we get all the facts correct. That solution is installing window film in classrooms, particularly in windows on the south side of the building.

This is not a new idea – twenty-two years ago, Stanford University did a major project that shows a great example of what is possible. While this study is from a university and not a K-12 school district, it illustrates how energy savings from window film can be a great investment.

Stanford applied over 6,000 square feet of solar control window film to Encina Hall, a building constructed in 1891, reducing energy costs by nearly 50%. Other K-12 school systems report $3 saved for every dollar invested, a huge Return on Investment. Other institutions, including K-12 schools, have reported a 300% ROI.

I would like your help locating North Carolina K-12 examples of schools that have installed window film so I can report on the results. If you know of such a system, please reach out to me at Fkoster@theoptimisticfuturist.org.

If you can educate my team, we can share that information with our 18,000 North Carolina educators who are subscribers to our mailing list. You could impact the future of our state’s children.

Rough times are ahead. Working together, we can create a better future for our kids. Can we count on you?