CARPENTERSVILLE - Community Unit School District 300's plan to invest in a wind farm as part of a consortium of school districts from across the state is more than just hot air.

Now that plan has $44,000 behind it.

The D300 Board of Education voted Monday to approve Phase I of its School Wind Consortium plan, which would create the first wind farm owned by such a consortium in Illinois. Power created by the farm would be sold to utility companies to offset the school districts' energy bills.

The school board had voted in July to create the consortium with Keeneyville Elementary School District 20 in DuPage County and Prospect Heights School District 23 in Cook County. Since then, D300 Director of Operations Mike Prombo said the districts mostly have been looking into options for funding the wind farm, including tax credits and Build America Bonds.

"That's the most I can do," Prombo said. "We don't have to have a lawyer do it. We don't have to spend any money on it."

Phase I of the districts' plan formalizes their efforts, signing an intergovernmental agreement to define and govern that group. By definition, D300 has an 80 percent share in the decision-making, cost and future profit of the consortium.

It also authorizes $55,000 to research the feasibility of such a project, of which D300 would pay $44,000. That research includes selecting a site for the wind farm, determining preliminary project costs, seeking out potential investors and consulting lawyers.

"Down the line, when we get the investors, we'll get the money back," Prombo said. "Really, we're trying to do this at no cost to the district."

Phase I could take between 6 months to one year to complete, he said.

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

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 D300. A 10-turbine, 20-megawatt farm such as what the consortium is considering could bring $2.5 million to $3 million to District 300 after operating and maintenance costs are paid and 10 percent is doled out to each of the other districts.

The school districts could begin to see that money in Year 15 of the wind farm, D300 CFO Cheryl Crates said at Monday's board meeting.

District 20 already has approved Phase I of the School Wind Consortium plan. If approved by District 23, the Phase I contract will come back to the D300 school board for review and approval.