UPDATE: This afternoon the Parks and Recreation Commission to move ahead with the project. Staff will now hold negotiations with the developer, Solar City.
Amid the carnival rides, the animals exhibits, and all that junk food… Oregon is planning something new for the State Fair in Salem.
The Parks and Recreation Commission is looking at a proposal for a 1.25 megawatt solar energy project at the fairgrounds and exposition center. That’s about 5,400 solar panels spread across the roofs of three buildings and another location on the ground.
The proposal, from Solar City of California, would cost about $8 million. Solar City would pay for all of it, would own and operate the system for 20-years, and sell the electricity to the state. A report by the Parks and Recreation staff says that would be cheaper than buying it from a utility and could save the department $200,000 – $400,000 over those two decades. It’s not enough electricity to run the whole fairgrounds, but it is enough to meet about half of the area’s annual demand.
Parks spokesman Chris Havel says the project could be up and running by State Fair time at the end of August.
One possible glitch? Oregon’s Business Energy Tax Credit, or BETC, is being scaled back by the legislature in order to reduce the cost of the program. Solar City could have received as much as $600,000 worth of incentives from BETC and the Energy Trust of Oregon for building the project. If lawmakers reduce BETC by too much, then Solar City may decide to walk away from the deal.
Parks and Recreation also hope the fairgrounds solar energy project will bring in more visitors and the department sees it as a chance to educate the public about solar energy.
The Commission meets this afternoon for a possible vote. If it says yes, then the Commission staff begins negotiations with Solar World. Havel thinks this might just be the largest solar project sponsored by the state.
