Schools
Parkland Takes Another Step Toward Natural Gas Line
Parkland School District estimates that a new natural gas line to Parkland High School could result in an annual fuel savings of $325,000 to $347,000.
The Parkland School Board took another step Tuesday toward construction of a gas line to , to save money on fuel costs.
The school board at its meeting approved an agreement between the district and the Jeras Corp. for an extension of UGI gas facilities across Jeras property to the high school. The Jeras property is neighboring open land.
The board unanimously approved the agreement with no discussion.
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School Services Director Mark Lapos said the agreement is conditional upon the Jeras Corp. and UGI finalizing rights of way.
In March 2011, the to draw up a draft agreement with UGI Corp. so that the school district would be less dependent on fuel oil. The high school was designed as a dual fuel facility, able to handle both natural gas and fuel oil.
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An opportunity to switch to natural gas surfaced when , off North Cedar Crest Boulevard, South Whitehall, began using natural gas instead of fuel oil to power its plant. It was determined that the Parkland School District would need to build 5,500 feet of line to continue service from the GEO Specialty Chemicals line to the high school.
Natural gas will become the high school’s primary fuel source. However, school officials have said the system would switch over to fuel oil when temperatures dip to 11 degrees or 12 degrees.
Richard Kiernan, a major account representative at UGI, estimated that the annual fuel savings could be $325,000 to $347,000.