ODOE Helps Cut the Virtual Ribbon on Ashland Food Co-op's Solar Installation
Oregon Department of Energy Director Janine Benner joined Ashland Food Co-op, True South Solar, the City of Ashland, and other partners to “cut the ribbon” on Ashland Food Co-op’s new virtual net metered solar installation. ODOE was proud to support the project with an over $100,000 Renewable Energy Development Grant.
The Ashland Food Co-op invested in the 528-panel, 197 kilowatt system as part of its effort to be completely powered by renewable energy by 2030. What makes the project unique is that Ashland Food Co-op already had solar on its own roof — so using an approach called virtual net metering, the Co-op was able to install even more solar on another building’s roof about three miles away!
Janine shared her thoughts during the ribbon-cutting:
Interested in learning more about virtual net metering? Tune in to our Grounded podcast episode with guest Stu Green, the City of Ashland’s Climate and Energy Analyst.
There has been a solar boom in Oregon over the last ten years – more Oregonians are turning to solar to generate their own power and reduce their carbon footprint. And the cost of solar has dropped dramatically, making it more accessible for families and businesses.
But solar still isn’t accessible for everyone, and creative solutions like community solar programs and virtual net metering allow more people to support solar development in cases where they don’t have good solar access on site. A renter, or a home or business with a shaded roof in a tree-filled place like Ashland, can support solar development on another property. Or, like in the case of Ashland Food Co-op (which, I understand, is a business with a deep commitment to being carbon neutral) – when it has a roof that is already full of solar, it can invest in even more solar a few miles away!
The Oregon Department of Energy was pleased to support this project with over $100,000 from our Renewable Energy Development Grant program. Between 2012 and 2019 when funding for the RED program ended, we awarded about $9 million for nearly 100 renewable energy projects, including solar, geothermal, biogas, and hydro. The program supported projects statewide, from Gold Beach to Ontario… from Enterprise to right here in Ashland. The grants were very competitive, with points awarded for projects that benefitted their communities, such as adding jobs and boosting energy resilience. We’re very proud of the RED Grant program, which won a national State Leadership in Clean Energy Award from the Clean Energy States Alliance in 2018 for its innovative funding model that used proceeds from a tax credit auction.
It’s appropriate that we’re together – at least virtually – to celebrate this project the day after Earth Day, a day when people around the country are raising awareness of the environmental threats to our planet. Climate change is of course one of the biggest threats, and the energy sector is a significant contributor to our state’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions. But with projects like this, the energy sector can also be a solution.
The Oregon Department of Energy is committed to doing our part to shape an equitable clean energy transition, and to protect the environment and public health. Partnerships with communities like Ashland, and businesses like the Co-op, on projects like this, embrace this transition in a way that helps communities. Thank you to everyone involved for your dedication to a sustainable energy future for Oregon.
Photos courtesy of True South Solar.