EBENSBURG — The Central Cambria and Cambria Heights school districts received Solar for Schools grants that will reportedly save them money in the long run, school officials said.

Central Cambria received a $148,256 grant to install a rooftop solar array on the Jackson Elementary School, which will provide 100% of the electricity needs for the building, Superintendent Jason Moore said.

Likewise, the Cambria Heights School District received a $437,522 grant to install a rooftop array on its elementary school building in Carrolltown Borough, Superintendent Ken Kerchenske said, noting the district will own the array.

That means the electricity generated from the solar panels will be used by the school, Kerchenske said, adding Cambria Heights could sell the solar renewable energy credit on the market and receive some additional income from the electricity.

“This will be a lot different than what we’re doing out at the high school,” Kerchenske said. “Because we own them, we will get all of the electricity usage-free.”

According to Kerchenske, the grant award will help offset the total cost of the panels — $875,044 — for which Cambria Heights will only pay between 10% to 20% to purchase. The district will receive at between 30 and 40% of the cost back in federal tax relief, he said.

Moore said the Jackson Elementary School array is great for the district and its taxpayers because less money will be going out for operational costs so funding can be allocated where it has the most impact — in the classrooms.

Central Cambria’s current annual electric bill for the school building is about $30,000.

So, for about two years’ worth of electric bills paid through the district’s funds — added to the Solar for Schools grant and federal solar subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act — Central Cambria will have hardly any electricity costs for the building over the next 25 to 30 years, Moore said.

“We are definitely excited about this grant and appreciative of everyone who helped us out, especially Representative Frank Burns, who provided a letter of support for our grant program and for Representative Elizabeth Feidler, the original sponsor of the legislation in the General Assembly,” Moore said.

According to Moore, Central Cambria is also looking to enter into a power-purchase agreement for a larger project at its Cambria Township campus that would provide solar power to the high school, middle school and Cambria Elementary School.

That’s a project that would “potentially save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year,” he said.

“Our school board is currently evaluating proposals submitted by solar developers and may act as soon as next month on a project (for the Jackson Elementary array),” Moore said.

Kerchenske said the next step for Cambria Heights is to start its permitting process for the panels, noting the process could be “pretty complicated” because of the elementary school building’s size.

Kerchenske said he’s optimistic that the panels could be installed and running by this time next year, but he’s uncertain whether they will be.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.