CARPENTERSVILLE - Community Unit School District 300's doors officially flew open to the wind this week.

The board of education approved an intergovernmental agreement to formalize a School Wind Consortium with Keeneyville Elementary School District 20 in DuPage County and Prospect Heights School District 23 in Cook County.

The formal establishment of the consortium to generate electricity "only the first step of an in-depth process, each major step of which would need another positive School board vote to move the process forward," said Allison Strupeck, spokeswoman for the district, adding that no financial commitment has yet been made.

If the board decides later this year to approve a proposed expenditure of $55,000 for the first phase of the project - which would split be among the three school districts - "the logistics and finer details of the plan will be fleshed out," she said.

District 300 would shoulder 80 percent of the costs - as well as potential benefits and decision-making - associated with the consortium that would build wind turbines to generate the electricity.

Dave Ulm, the district's energy coordinator, said the entire project is estimated to cost between $46 million and $50 million.

The electricity from the wind farm wouldn't provide power to any of the districts' schools. Turbines only can provide energy to what's physically attached to that power source, he said.

But state law does allow school districts to sell the power generated by an off-site wind farm to a utility company to offset the school district's energy use - about $2.9 million each year for District 300. A 10-turbine, 20-megawatt farm such as what the consortium is considering could bring $3 million to District 300 after operating and maintenance costs are paid and 10 percent is paid out to the other districts. This would cover "most or all of our District's electric expenses," Strupeck said.

If all three school boards approve the intergovernmental agreement, the next phase of the project would be signing on with Heston Wind to search for grants, investors and a location for the wind farm. That could take four to five months, and the consortium would have to return to each school board with a contract for approval.

In other business this week, the board approved knocking down the old deLacey building on the Dundee-Crown High School campus in Carpentersville.

The district will spend about $993,000 to demolish the facility. The cost estimate includes about $560,000 to be spent on upgrades at the site once the old building is torn down. Those upgrades could include lighting for the parking lot, which is currently used by Dundee-Crown students; additional parking spaces; extended sidewalks; storage for athletic equipment; two practice fields; and a chain-link security fence.