Lane CC to Build Electric Vehicle Charging Station – Why Not COCC?

It seems like it should be a no-brainer for the utility companies that service Central Oregon to put together a similar program.  And an electrical vehicle charging station designed and built by students from Central Oregon Community College would be natural in an area where, according to the local tourism bureaus, the sun shines over 300 days a year.

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Lane Community College receives first EWEB Greenpower grant
Eugene Water & Electric Board Website – April 18, 2009

Lane Community College received a $100,000 grant from EWEB [Greenpower Grant Program] to build a solar-powered electric vehicle charging station for students and the community. EWEB’s Greenpower customers voted for the LCC project from among five local renewable energy and education projects.

The Greenpower grant will be combined with other funds to build the electric vehicle charging station. A grid of solar panels will be constructed, which will power 36 outlets to recharge plug-in electric or hybrid vehicles on the main LCC campus. Other funding will come from part of a recently passed LCC bond measure.

The LCC project will create opportunities for students to learn about how to install, repair and service the new solar array and vehicle charging station, will lower the community’s carbon footprint, will generate renewable energy, and will help the community learn more about the emerging technology of plug-in vehicles.

Eugene Utility Makes Renewable Energy Grants

EWEB Greenpower customers to award grant
The utility will make up to $100,000 available for a single renewable energy project, with smaller grants planned for fall
By Susan Palmer – The Register-Guard – January 17, 2009

The Eugene Water & Electric Board on Friday announced a series of [Greenpower Grant Program] grants for renewable energy projects and invited its Greenpower customers to vote on who gets the first award.

The local utility will make up to $100,000 available this spring for a single project, with smaller grants up to $25,000 available in the fall, said Tom Williams, EWEB’s key accounts manager.

The money for the projects comes from EWEB customers who buy renewable energy either in the form of $1.50 or $10 blocks of power, or who pay an extra penny per kilowatt-hour to support EWEB’s wind farm and solar power projects.

EWEB invests those revenues back into renewable energy, and decided that supporting smaller-scale local projects could benefit groups such as schools, nonprofit organizations and public agencies that normally wouldn’t have the money to finance them upfront, Williams said.

Central Oregon Irrigation District Juniper Ridge Hydropower Solicitation

Irrigation canals in Central Oregon are now being looked at as more than just a way to distribute water from the Deschutes River to farmers and ranchers.  Now days, with energy costs rising and the desirability or renewable energy sources, the power of water rushing through the canals is looked at as a source of power and revenue.  The Swalley Irrigation District may have a 1 MW plant on line by April 2009, and Central Oregon Irrigation District’s 3.7 MW plant, reported on below,  is looking at May 2010 for completion date. Both irrigation-based hydro power plants will be located north of Bend.

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Open Solicitation Juniper Ridge 3.27 MW Hydropower
January 23, 2008

Summary:

Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID) proposes to install a hydropower project totaling 3.27 megawatts (MW) approximately seven miles north of downtown Bend. The project is expected to be completed in May, 2010. 

Proposed Central Oregon Community College Allied Sciences Building Gets Solar Grant

Pacific Power, through its Blue Sky renewable energy program, recently awarded Central Oregon Community College a $160,000 grant that will help pay for a solar array on top of the proposed Allied Sciences Building.

The grant will help fund a 62-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array atop the three-story building.  Assuming a successful November 2008 bond measure vote, construction could begin in 2010. The building would be dedicated to science and health career education and house classes on renewable energy studies. The building itself will be as energy efficient as possible and model renewable energy values.

The students of COCC have dedicated a portion of their fees to ensure that by using Blue Sky, the college buys renewable power equal to 100 percent of COCC’s electricity use. COCC was the first community college in the nation to take such a step.

Bend’s Downtown Parking Garage Gets Solar Power

Although this project has been talked about for some time, city officials say they have finalizing the design of the city of Bend’s first solar energy project.

Work is expected to begin next spring on the project that will sit on top of the Centennial Parking Plaza at 61 NW Oregon Avenue. The city is using a $400,000 grant from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Projects the city and is partnering with Bend-based SunEnergy Power Corporation to set up the 200 kW project.

With nearly 20 rows of solar panels mounted to steel trusses above the entire top level of the garage, the system will be one of the largest solar installations in Oregon.

SunEnergy, who will own the system, will bear the entire cost of buying, installing and maintaining the solar array, which will produce about 280,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That energy, enough to power about two dozen homes continuously, will be sold directly to the city.