If the weather cooperates, Thomas Reynolds expects to see something in the fall that would bring a smile to many a homeowner: An electric meter turning backward.

Slippery Rock University plans to install a solar-wind energy system to provide electricity to several campus buildings.

"When we generate more power than we need, we'll feed the excess into the [commercial electricity] grid," Mr. Reynolds said. "Then we will see our electric meter spin backwards."

Mr. Reynolds is director of Slippery Rock's Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research. The center is the university's prime location for graduate student research on sustainable housing and energy systems.

Slippery Rock is one of several suburban institutions and governments looking to harness alternative energy sources.

Bergey Windpower is manufacturing a 50-kilowatt turbine for Pine that will provide electricity for the township's municipal building and a new community center.

Economy has been named one of 15 local governments and school districts slated to receive 1.8 kilowatt wind turbines. That project is being financed by the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority.

North Coast Energy Systems, based in Erie, has been hired to install Slippery Rock's 2.5 kilowatt turbine.

The cost of buying and erecting the Abundant Renewable Energy model 110 turbine is $42,000. The solar panels will cost about $23,000. The panels will produce an additional 2.4 kilowatts.

The university expects to spend another $6,000 for monitoring equipment.

Funding for the project includes a $25,000 state grant. Additional grants and foundation funds are being sought.

Mr. Reynolds said he hoped construction would begin in the fall. Plans are under review by state agencies, including the Department of Labor and Industry.

Slippery Rock's system will serve several purposes, Mr. Reynolds said. "People can come in and 'kick the tires,' " he said. Those visits should give them some idea of how alternate energy systems could be used in homes and businesses.

The Slippery Rock system will be tied into the region's utility network, eliminating the need for battery-powered backup systems.

As part of the state university system, Slippery Rock benefits from inexpensive electric rates. That means the payback period, the time needed to cover project costs with utility savings, will be long.

The environmental savings, however, would be immediate, Mr. Reynolds said. Electricity produced by sunlight or wind doesn't have to be produced in coal-fired power plants, he said. The result is less acid rain, fewer groundwater problems, savings in natural resources and diminished health risks.

"We subsidize the price of cheap power with risks to health and the ecosystem," he said. "A shift from dirty coal to new energy sources bolsters the environment."

Pine Manager Gary Koehler said his community's wind turbine should be installed by the end of the year. It will be installed atop a 120-foot tower in the township's community park. Half of the project cost is covered by a $62,500 state grant from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Economy's smaller turbine will be installed on a 35-foot tower at the borough building on Conway Wallrose Road.

That system should be up and running by October.