Sweetwater Wind Hosts Kids on the Land STEM program

LRE is helping students in West Texas create a more sustainable future.

Our Sweetwater Wind project in Nolan County, Texas, again this year provided support for Kids on the Land (KOL), a unique outdoor STEM-based program. The week-long event teaches children about the land and environment around them with a goal of inspiring them to be the next caretakers.

LRE’s Sweetwater Wind project provides annual financial support for the program. The site also provides a tour and a discussion of wind energy.

“We’ve been partnering with KOL for as many years as I’ve been with Sweetwater,” noted Jesse Monroe, Plant Manager of Sweetwater Wind 4 and 5. “Kids on the Land is in perfect alignment with LRE’s commitment to STEM education and sustainability. Plus, it’s great to see these kids come out and be so enthusiastic about our wind project and the environment in general. They are the future.”

Kids on the Land (KOL) was created more than 20 years ago by former teacher and rancher Peggy Maddox who now serves as Executive Director. The weeklong program is based on the belief that kids need to reconnect to the land and environment, especially in their own area. “Children have an innate need to be in nature,” according to Peggy. “And nature needs a new generation to be reconnected to the land and take us to a more sustainable future.”

The KOL program is held during the Fall school semester for 4^th through 6th graders in and around Nolan County, and more than 7,200 students have experienced the program since it began. KOL provides hands-on learning in a diverse range of STEM-related topics from plants, bugs, soil, and wildlife to vegetation and wind energy. The event is hosted on the Dickson Family 69 Ranch of Kathi Dickson, a KOL co-host and one of Sweetwater Wind’s landowners. Part of the tour includes a wind turbine located on her property.

LRE has long been an active participant, teaching 5th graders about wind energy by visiting a turbine on the last day of the program. Sweetwater Wind employees lead the tour and discussion at the wind facility including Plant Manager Jesse Monroe, Site Lead Tommie Floyd, and Sweetwater Administrative Assistant Melissa Lozano who volunteers on all three days during KOL. This year LRE Developer Kim Wells and Public Affairs Manager Kristen Rosenberger also participated as volunteers for the event.

“It’s been wonderful having partners like Sweetwater Wind for this program,” added Peggy Maddox. “We need community awareness and support for a program like this. Sweetwater understands that it’s about the future and children and the environment. Sweetwater is greatly appreciated here.”

About LRE

LRE (Leeward Renewable Energy) is a high-growth renewable energy company forging a sustainable future through integrity, innovation, and positive impact. We own and operate over 30 large wind, solar, and energy storage projects across the United States, totaling over 4 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity.  

LRE has an ambitious goal of 10GW of operating assets by 2028 and is developing and contracting an increasing pipeline of new projects every year. We take a full-lifecycle approach to our projects, built on a long-term ownership model and a company culture dedicated to our community partners and protecting the environment. LRE is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of the largest defined pension plans in Canada, with C$128.6 billion in net assets (as of Dec 31, 2023). For more information, visit www.lreus.com.