PRINEVILLE, OR -- Facebook and Pacific Power are joining forces to increase the amount of renewable power in the northwest. Governor Kate Brown was in Crook County Wednesday, alongside Pacific Power, Facebook and local officials, to announce a new partnership.
Pacific Power Senior Vice President Scott Bolton says the project will allow them to build six solar farms, "The six facilities will produce 437 megawatts of power and 100 megawatts of that will be coming from the two sites in Oregon." Those two sites will be near Facebook's data center in Prineville. The other four will be built in Idaho. "Facebook pays a little bit more so our customers pay less."
The two solar farms near Prineville will generate 100 megawatts of electricity; in total, the six facilities will generate 437 megawatts of power. All of the electricity from the Facebook data center in Prineville will be from renewable sources. Bolton says it's setting the region on a good course, "Facebook’s doing a great job in showing their leadership; and helping, not just buying renewable solutions for their data center, but also helping ‘green the grid,’ overall."
