BEND, OR -- a new solar farm will soon be producing power just east of Bend, off Hamby Road. Nathan Buehler, with Business Oregon, tells KBND News, "Bear Creek is expected to come online at the end of May and it's a 10 megawatt project - at least that's what it's slated for in our documents. Once they get it under operation, they'll be feeding that back to the grid."
Business Oregon will provide Bear Creek Solar with an incentive, as part of a state partnership to encourage the creation of renewable energy. "We have a total capacity of about 150 megawatts, and we have about 50 megawatts of projects there in Central Oregon, across Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook Counties," says Buehler. "We have three projects, in total, enrolled in the program." The incentive program is only available for solar farms that produce 10 megawatts are less. "It provides half a cent, basically, for every kilowatt generated. It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up."
