Backers of using biomass-fueled boilers in school districts and hospitals may have their first local convert soon.

Brian Kruse, maintenance supervisor at the Elkton School District, said the district started looking into switching from heating oil to pellet-burning boilers about a year ago. He said Superintendent Mike Hughes was familiar with the conversion in Enterprise School District in Eastern Oregon and suggested  Elkton could save money by doing the same.

As it turns out, Kruse said, preliminary estimates have the heating cost savings that is more than half.

He said Elkton is aiming for next summer for the conversion. The district would have to convert or replace two boilers, for the elementary school and the high school.

"Their size is ideal for using pellets," said Cam Hamilton, the business development manager for McKinstry, the Seattle-based consulting and construction firm designing the project.

Elkton could install something similar to a grain silo, which would feed the pellets into the boilers. Kruse said the pellets most likely will come from suppliers in Douglas County.

"It's nice to keep the money in the area versus sending it elsewhere," Hamilton said.

The conversion cost will be big- about $400,000 per boiler. Hamilton said the installation cost for wood boilers tends to be higher than for traditional oil boilers, but fuel costs typically drop by at least half once the boilers are burning.

In addition, Kruse said Elkton may get as much as 75 percent of the switch covered with a mix of federal and state grants and tax credits plus some stimulus money for the use of renewable energy.