Redmond, Ore. – Installation of Central Oregon Community College’s (COCC) half megawatt solar array at the school’s Redmond campus is now complete and has gone live.
The College and its partners celebrated the milestone with an event that included remarks from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden.
The community college installed the solar array to satisfy a state mandate that a portion of the construction costs of new building projects goes toward renewable energy.
The array, funded through a power purchase agreement with Sunlight Solar Energy and IGS Solar, and with grants from Energy Trust of Oregon and Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Energy Program, comes 10 years following approval of a student referendum to increase student fees to purchase clean energy from Blue Sky and increase awareness about sustainable energy in the community.
“Central Oregon Community College continues to be a leader in sustainability and the clean energy movement,” said Dr. Shirley I. Metcalf, president of COCC. “Our students were the first in the nation to vote to fund purchasing renewable energy, and we are now proud to be operating one of the largest solar arrays in the state. It is a commitment of our Board and of our College to be good stewards of our resources,” she said.
The new solar array underscores COCC’s efforts to increase sustainability on its campuses and is expected to meet approximately 90 percent of the annual energy needs for the Redmond campus.
