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The community solar array (141.6 kW-DC) on top of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) production building in Talent, OR, has been operational since March 2022 and supplies power to homes from Rogue River to Green Springs.
Ray Sanchez-Pescador from Solarize Rogue spearheaded the three-year project in partnership with Sustainable Northwest, the Oregon Clean Power Co-op, and True South Solar.
Senate Bill 1547 was passed in 2016 and created the Oregon Community Solar Program, enabling customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, and Idaho Power to own or subscribe to shared solar arrays and benefit from the generation. The community solar model has gained momentum in the United States and allows greater access, participation, and benefits from solar.
The OSF project is one of the first and only participant-owned community solar projects in Oregon and the first "carve-out" project in Oregon (Carve-outs were established in the program to incentivize small and/or community-driven projects).
Solarize Rogue and its partners paved the way for future participant-owned community solar array projects. Ray thanked SNW, the Energy Trust of Oregon, Community Solar Program staff, the OPUC, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, SOCAN, and Pacific Power and applauded Rogue Climate for enrolling low-income households in the project.
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Fort Klamath serves as the gateway to Crater Lake National Park, and the summer season brings an influx of people and revenue to this otherwise quiet town. "During these months, we work seven days a week, often up by six in the morning and we do not stop until eleven at night or later," says Heidi McLean, co-owner of The Aspen Inn. Income has been volatile for this small business. Now with financial assistance from USDA Rural Development, Heidi and her partner Shannon Sirola were able to install solar at the inn and lock in stable energy savings.
Heidi and Shannon are now saving up to $700 on summer monthly utility bills by generating 96% of their electricity from the sunshine in Fort Klamath. As a result of receiving a USDA REAP grant, they reduced 25% of their solar installation costs, accelerating their payback and creating extra savings. Now with predictable and reliable energy costs from their solar installation, they can budget and prepare for the future.
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Sustainable Northwest led a team in 2018-2019 that installed 120kW of solar on rural public facilities utilizing innovative community finance models. The projects include solar on a nonprofit animal shelter, a rural library, and public health care facility. Savings from these projects are projected to be upwards of $400,000.
The team competed nationally in the SunShot Solar In Your Community Challenge from U.S. Department of Energy, and won “Best Nonprofit Project” for their groundbreaking work. Team members included Douglas County Smart Energy, Hood River County, and Lake County Resources Initiative.
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In Fall 2025,Oregon Department of Energy’s Community Navigator Program and Sustainable Northwest partnered to showcase how counties across Oregon are approaching and utilizing energy resilience planning resources. Their teams developed two case studies featuring counties that applied to and were awarded funds from theCounty Energy Resilience Grant Program (introduced by HB 3630). By developing energy resilience plans, local governments can anticipate risks and identify the infrastructure and other resources they will need to protect their communities from future energy disrupting events.
HB 3630 was drafted and supported by the Making Energy Work Policy Committee in 2023. It established the framework for Oregon counties to develop energy resilience plans. Importantly, these efforts are laying the groundwork for widespread energy resilience solutions for Oregon communities as the Oregon Public Utilities Commission works to establish a community microgrid framework (as directed by HB 2066) by March 2027.
Learn more about strategies, approaches, and lessons learned with our case studies from Grant County and the Central Oregon Cohort (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties).
Want to learn more and get involved?
E-FARM PROJECTS
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SNW, in partnership with Rusted Gate Farm, works to understand where electric tractors are best suited and better understand limitations with the units tested. The first to be demonstrated was a Solectrac eUtility (40HP), and the second was a Solectrac Compact Electric Tractor (25HP).
The first electric tractor arrived at Rusted Gate Farm in March 2021. Rusted Gate Farm is a non-profit farm that experiments with traditional, alternative, and innovative farm practices. Rusted Gate has used two models of electric tractors for their farming and maintenance operations.
This project is an important test case to explore the e-tractor’s best uses and analyze growth opportunities while building knowledge, access, and adoption of electric farm equipment to help farmers save money and reduce on-farm emissions.
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In January 2022, the E-Farms team partnered with the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition (BFSC) to bring one of the first electric tractors in Oregon to their farm on Sauvie Island.
BFSC serves as a collaboration hub for black and brown communities to confront the systemic barriers that make food, place, and economic opportunities inaccessible to them. BFSC is focused on meeting these barriers with creative, innovative, and sustainable solutions.
Read more about the project here!
"Piloting the E-tractor offers a practical way for our BIPOC farm communities to engage on the leading edge of agricultural electrification and green energy technologies. The learning and exposure to new partners and opportunities as part of the pilot project has been a benefit to all." - Chuck Smith, Director of Health and Wellness, Black Food Sovereignty Coalition (BFSC)
