ST. MARYS – The St. Marys Area School District has joined a
small group of schools in the state to take a step to help end the
country’s dependence on fossil fuel.

State Rep. Dan Surra, D-Kersey, announced that the St. Marys
Area School District has been selected as one of 15 sites statewide
to demonstrate a new system for providing power using small-scale
wind turbines. The project is part of an effort by the state to
demonstrate the benefits and potential energy savings of using wind
turbines to provide power to both public buildings and private
residences.

“The idea is that by placing these wind turbines where people
can see them and having them produce power for public buildings we
can show businesses and people that wind is a viable energy
alternative, one that can save money and benefit the environment,”
Surra said. “The St. Marys Area School District should be proud
that it has been selected as one of the places in Pennsylvania
where this new approach to energy generation and energy cost
savings will be demonstrated.”

This brings even more impetus to alternative energy when you see
the price of a gallon of gas and barrel of oil, Robert Bolt,
outdoor teacher said.

“Wind power will affect a normal family’s electric bill by
approximately $672 a year,” Bolt explained. “There is a pay back of
approximately 12 years.”

Bolt was the person behind writing the grant application and
tracking and was the main reason the district was approved,
according to St. Marys Superintendent Murray Neeper.

Neeper said the company that is working with the grant and
Department of Environmental Protection has told Bolt they would
like to move forward as rapidly as possible.

“We feel it could start in the very near future,” Neeper said.
“The ideal situation would be to have the system up and running as
a functioning demo when the students would return in the fall.”

Neeper said this was a competitive grant with 1,500 initial
applicants.

“We made the cut to the top 25 just at the end of the school
year and just today we received we were one of 15 awardees.”

In a press release, Surra said the Pennsylvania Energy
Development Authority awarded a $193,000 grant in January to
Southwest Windpower to install 15 small-scale wind turbines at
public buildings throughout the state.

Southwest Windpower is an Arizona company that manufactures
personal-size wind turbines for residential homes and other
small-scale energy consumers. Applications from municipalities,
public authorities and school districts that wished to participate
in the demonstration project were due in May.

As one of the successful applicants, Surra said St. Marys Area
School District will receive one of the Southwest Windpower
small-scale wind systems, valued at about $10,000, and basic
installation at no charge.

In return, the school district is expected to provide public
education and outreach on wind power as an energy alternative. The
wind energy system will be mounted in the ground on a 35-foot tower
and generate 1.8 kilowatts of electricity. That is roughly how much
energy is consumed by a typical household, Surra said.

“Pennsylvania is already using wind energy on a large,
utility-size scale to generate electricity in some areas,” he said.
“The St. Marys demonstration and others like it around the state
will show that wind energy is an affordable and viable alternative
on a small, household scale, as well.

“I think this technology has great potential in the future to
lower energy costs for small businesses and households, as well as
the environmental and economic costs of energy production in our
communities,” Surra said. “I’m very excited that St. Marys Area
School District and the St. Marys community will have a role in
introducing small-scale wind energy technology to the people of
Pennsylvania.”

Alternative energies and ecologies are a strong part of the
district’s curriculum, Neeper explained. The district tries to
partner with community, civic groups and organizations in town to
help our students. We are making it a main component about what we
are about in St. Marys: hands on education and all aspects of
education relating to the environment.

“We are going to run portions of the outdoor classroom off of
it,” Neeper said. “We are hoping to get additional grants to
install solar panels and wind generation. This will connect into
our grid, so at peak capacity any extra energy produced will go
back into our grid system and we will receive credit. It won’t be
anything dramatically significant, but concept wise it will
illustrate the direction the state and Department of Education are
going.”

The goal of this pilot program is to help raise a generation of
students who understand the concept of it and help them find a way
for their generation to go away from the use of fossil fuels,
Neeper added.

There will be a special school board meeting to discuss the
grant award at 6 p.m. July 20 at the outdoor classroom.