Northampton Area School District officials have put a lot of energy into saving energy.

Their efforts are paying off.

Northampton Area School District Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik said the district netted a $309,578 savings in energy costs in the past year.

Energy was on the Nov. 10 agenda with approval of a contract extension with the district's electricity supplier.

With the 2015 opening of the new Northampton Area Middle School, there's apparently more energy savings on the way.

The energy savings was accomplished in several ways.

A combined savings of $79,079 is attributed to a longer four-day summer work week, with district offices closed Fridays, and through Northampton Area High School becoming a primary customer, the latter bringing a $56,729 savings.

"We own the high-voltage equipment," NASD Director of Operations Robert J. Yanders explained, thus receiving the "primary customer" rate.

"A primary customer is a never-ending savings each year," said NASD school board President David Gogel.

An additional savings of $1,152 was realized in PPL rebates.

The biggest savings was $177,628 in electricity provided during the 2013-14 school year by Provident Energy Consulting, LLC.

School directors voted 7-0, with two directors absent Nov. 10, to approve a two-year extension with Provident Energy Consulting, LLC, with an updated resolution for the purchase of electricity at the consulting rate of one mil ($.001) per kilowatt-hour.

NASD Business Administrator Terry Leh told The Press after the Nov. 10 meeting that all 17 districts, including NASD, are part of a Colonial Intermediate 20 consortium that purchases electricity from Provident, an electricity broker that shops for the best rates on the open market and passes along savings to its customers.

Kovalchik described the energy savings as the result of "those little things that really add up.

"It's a lot of savings," Kovalchik said.

Looking ahead, Yanders said, "With the [new] middle school, we're going to be a primary customer.

"Plus, we're getting away from all-electric," Yanders added, referring to the old middle school's heating system.

The 156,000-square-foot Northampton Area Middle School electric bill is on average $40,000 monthly and has spiked to $52,000 monthly.

The new 272,300-square-foot middle school will be heated by natural gas only.

District officials estimate a $15,000 to $20,000 savings per month in heating costs at the new middle school.

The 332,850-square-foot high school has a dual system: oil and natural gas.