PPL Montana once again is seeking elementary and high school programs that will spark students’ interest in environmental issues for its annual Project Earth Environmental Education Grants Program.

“Students — our future leaders — need to know about the issues facing the environment. Through our grants program, we want to help provide teachers with the resources to make learning about the environment fun, creative and interesting,” said Lisa Perry, PPL Montana’s community affairs manager.

“This past school year our grants helped students at four Montana schools to enhance their study of weather and water, improve their recycling program, expand their study of birds and insects, and increase their appreciation of how plants, shrubs and trees beautify the landscape,” Perry said. “We are looking forward to seeing the same type of inspiration and imagination in this year’s applications.”

Through the program, educators are awarded up to $1,500 to help teach students the important role they play in maintaining a healthy environment. Teachers can receive grants for school projects that focus on issues such as watersheds and wetlands, air quality, renewable resources, energy conservation and the greening of schools. The projects can enhance established classroom curricula and academic standards, or support extracurricular activities of school organizations and clubs.

The program is being offered to all public, private and parochial schools in Montana. A school may partner with an organization, association or business, but the school must have primary responsibility for the project. Applications will be accepted until Jan. 12, 2007. A team of PPL Montana employees and environmental experts will choose the winning projects.

For more information about the PPL Montana Project Earth Environmental Education Grants Program or to apply for a grant, click here.

PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric power plants along Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).