Mar. 16--Two local school districts want to take a greener approach to powering their schools.

Hazleton Area school Director Steve Hahn and Facilities Manager Andre Marchese have asked the school board to undertake a feasibility study on whether windmills could power the Drums Elementary/Middle School.

The board could vote to solicit proposals for the Drums project on March 26.

Last week, administrators at nearby Tamaqua Area School District asked their school board to file for a $2 million renewable energy program grant that could bring geothermal heating and air conditioning systems online at the high school.

Tamaqua Area officials could approve the grant filing next week.

Both districts are pursuing alternative energy projects partly in response to PPL rate caps that will expire next year and because of the availability of state and federal funds reserved for energy efficiency projects.

Bill Manner, an environmental program manager with the state Department of Environmental Protection, said alternative energy is gaining momentum among schools in northeastern Pennsylvania.

At this point, many of the projects are in the discussion phases, Manner said.

"We have seen some of the districts starting to talk about these types of things," Manner said. "We really haven't seen anything (completed) yet."

Windmills

Hahn, who credited Marchese for the windmill proposal, explained the district would solicit proposals from firms that could run tests to determine whether the equipment would be feasible for a triangular piece of land south of the Drums school.

"They'll put some wind speed and direction indicators in to monitor wind activity over a month or two just to see if enough wind comes through there to make it something that would be feasible," Hahn explained.

Grants available through the federal stimulus package could possibly fund the project, he said.

Hahn, who also serves as Butler Township manager, said the township recently bought 80 acres of land for housing windmills.

The township will pay the Go Green firm about $2,100 for studying whether the equipment would be feasible for the land. Hahn said the district could either solicit its own proposals or possibly have the same consultants examine the district's site.

"They said if Butler Township would (move ahead with a study), we got a quote for $2,100 and that they'd do a second site for $500," Hahn said.