Argos Community High School

At a Glance
• System Configuration: 1 × C65 Capstone Microturbine + 225 kW Rooftop Solar PV (630+ panels, 4 inverters) with BAS Integration
• Annual Generation: >500,000 kWh/year combined clean energy output)
• Energy Savings: ~$50,000 / year in reduced utility expenditures
• Thermal Integration: 430,000 BTU/hr of hot water for facility space heating and domestic water


The Challenge
Managing public K-12 educational facilities requires maximizing every dollar of taxpayer funding while maintaining a comfortable, reliable learning environment for students and staff. Serving roughly 640 students across its K-12 campus, Argos Community Schools faced rising electricity tariffs and demand charges on its 1957-built facility. To uphold its fiscal responsibility to local taxpayers, the district needed an innovative energy strategy that could flatten peak power demand, cut ongoing heating and power expenses, and modernize its legacy building infrastructure without imposing financial burdens on the community.


The Solution
Veristar Energy collaborated with district leadership to engineer an integrated, hybrid clean-energy solution combining high-efficiency microturbine CHP with onsite rooftop solar generation.
• Peak Shaving & Baseload Power: Combines 225 kW of rooftop solar power with a continuous 65 kW microturbine CHP system to shave expensive peak demand charges and supply continuous, low-cost baseload electricity.
• Thermal Energy Recovery: Recovers 430,000 BTU/hr of high-grade exhaust heat in the form of hot water, supplementing the school’s central hydronic heating loops and dramatically reducing primary natural gas boiler consumption.
• Smart BAS Integration: Fully integrated with the district’s Building Automation System (BAS) to dynamically manage thermal and electrical loads across the entire campus.
• Vocational & Educational ROI: Transforms the campus energy plant into a live learning lab, creating real-world STEM curriculum opportunities and green energy vocational training for junior and senior high school students.


The Results
• $50,000 Annual Taxpayer Savings: Significantly reduces annual electricity and natural gas bills, freeing up critical operational funds for classroom instruction and student programs.
• Utility Tariff Protection: Shields the school district operating budget from volatile peak power pricing and future utility rate increases.
• Ultra-Low Maintenance Overhead: Utilizes air-bearing microturbine technology with a single moving part, delivering quiet, reliable, zero-vibration operation ideal for K-12 educational environments.
• Legacy Infrastructure Optimization: Upgrades a 1957 facility with modern microgrid architecture, lowering carbon emissions while improving overall energy resiliency.