Wind Power Referendum Sails On

The referendum on a renewable energy fee passed overwhelmingly in the campus-wide election that ended yesterday, setting the stage for a “tough battle” to win the Faculty Council’s support for the new termbill charge.

In a record turnout of nearly 4,000 undergraduates, 82 percent of voters supported a $10 fee to fund renewable energy at the College. Seventy-six percent voted for the fee to be optional and 59 percent chose for it to be opt-out, which means that the default is to pay for wind power.

The new fee is now pending approval of the Faculty Council, which will consider the fee at its meeting in January.

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71, who does not have an official position on the Faculty Council, told the Undergraduate Council on Sunday that he “could not recommend” a proposal for a renewable energy termbill fee if it were submitted to the Faculty.

But at last night’s meeting of members and supporters of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee (EAC), which co-wrote the legislation for the referendum, sparkling apple cider corks popped in celebration of efforts to push the referendum through the Undergraduate Council and to raise awareness about renewable energy on campus.

“It would be very accurate to say that you guys have won a strong mandate for your initiative,” said Jonathan D. Einkauf ’06, chair of the Election Commission, after announcing the results that broke the palpable suspense at the EAC meeting.

The renewable energy effort will now focus on convincing the Faculty of the need for a new termbill fee, a task which will be especially challenging, several supporters said, because of this year’s student activities fee hike.

“We’ll be making a case that this is a viable, democratic and productive way of bringing renewable energy to the campus,” said Alexander L. Pasternack ’05, who helped organize the Harvard Students for Clean Energy group. “It’ll be a tough battle, but we’re willing to work hard.”

At the Undergraduate Council meeting last week, Gross expressed concerns that the termbill might become a laundry list of optional fees.

“I don’t want to get to the point where every good thing becomes a checkoff on the termbill,” Gross said.

If the Faculty Council does approve the new fee, the EAC plans to create a committee that would decide how to administer funds it raises.

In the course of five weeks, the idea for a renewable energy fee went from what Pasternack called a “pipe dream” to a ballot item that won by a 64-point margin.

“I never thought it would come this far,” said Pasternack, who is also a Crimson editor.

Over the past two weeks, the EAC and its supporters spread posters, leaflets and miniature windmills throughout the campus. A wooden model of a wind turbine still spins in front of the Science Center.

Students at both Harvard Business School and the Harvard School of Design have expressed interest in leading a similar effort, said Scot M. Miller ’07, co-chair of the EAC and Allison I. Rogers ’04, who advises the EAC.

“People are starting to discuss not only how the University can become more environmentally sustainable, but how they as individuals can reduce their ecological footprint,” Miller said.

The EAC estimates that $10 from every undergraduate would pay for enough renewable energy certificates (RECs)—tradeable units representing the output of a wind farm somewhere in the country—to cover 25 percent of the College dorms’ electricity use.

Jaclyn T. Marks, a Kennedy School student who has helped lead the wind energy campaign, stressed that the percentage had been calculated based on the price of RECs from New York. These certificates are more expensive than Midwestern certificates, but their purchase would have a greater impact on reducing air pollution around Boston.

—Elena P. Sorokin contributed reporting to this article.