Northern Lehigh School District will continue to buy electricity from its current provider as it considers solar projects at its elementary schools.

On an 8-0 vote, the school board last week approved an agreement with WGL Energy Services, Inc. for electricity for several accounts at a fixed rate of .05179/kwh for a term of July 1 through June 30, 2025.

Director Mathias Green said that the district has entered into an agreement to continue purchasing electric the way it has.

“Which essentially means at this point that the Peters project will be on hold for a minimum of a year at this point in time, and the Slatington project will be on hold for two years because we’ll still be continuing to purchase electric,” Green said. “We will be asking questions, we will be getting questions answered.

“There’s a possibility that there might be some construction, etc., started if we get the right answers as we go through it. But for the time being, they have been delayed for one and two years, respectively, because we’re purchasing energy here, so we can’t really use them.”

Superintendent Matthew J. Link weighed in on the matter.

“So if the board approves solar at the Peters campus, construction would start in December of 2023, for a transition in the following summer, and then for this (Slatington Elementary) campus, it would be the following December,” Link said. “They’re still working through permitting processes at both locations.”

After the meeting, Link expanded on the projects.

“The board has not made a final decision on implementing solar power for any school yet,” he said. “Rather, they secured purchasing electricity from our current provider until any potential solar projects begin, if the board decides to do so.”

Director Robert Kern was absent.