Peaks of the distant Cascades peek out Friday over the panels of the Marble Solar project about a mile east of the Albany city limit off Highway 20.
Drivers on Highway 20 east of Albany have noticed the pilings for photovoltaic solar panels going in near the corner of Cox Creek Lane.
By the time I drove out there Friday afternoon — no bike riding for me when the thermometer tops 90 degrees — scores of the solar panels had already been installed.
This solar farm, limited to 12 acres by its permit, is in the northwest corner of a 92-acre property owned by Duane and Janice Eicher, 36038 Eicher Road. It’s about a mile east of the Albany city line.
State law and the Linn County development code say that solar farms up to a certain size may be built on land zoned for exclusive farm use, as this site is, under certain conditions.
After appeals from decisions by the county planning staff and then the planning commission, the Linn County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 on June 8, 2021, to approve a conditional use permit allowing Marble Solar LLC of Portland to install the solar panels.
In the spring of 2023, another company associated with the project, SolRiver Capital LLC, asked for and received a one-year extension of the deadline for when construction would have to start. The new deadline is Nov. 9, 2024, and as everyone can see, the project has beaten that date.
On its website, Marble Solar says its Linn County project, with a generating capacity of 2,875 kilowatts, is part of something called the Oregon Community Solar Program. The company explains:
“Community solar is solar energy generated from a central location and shared by multiple subscribers. That means you don’t need your own rooftop panels to get the benefits of solar. If you’re a customer of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power or Idaho Power, you can subscribe to a community solar project and receive credits back on your utility bill.”
This project, of course, is within the service territory of Pacific Power.
The website lists yet another company, Arcadia Community Solar LLC, as being in charge of signing up subscribers. But it’s early for that. About subscription options, the site says “coming soon.”
Also according to the Marble Solar site, the Linn County project is expected to start generating power in the third quarter of this year.
According to the findings backing up the county’s approval, the solar farm would not interfere with neighboring farm operations or cause any other problems. Among other things, the panels would not reflect sunlight into the eyes of pilots flying into or out of nearby Albany Airport.
As a small solar farm, this project did not have to go through the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council, where a much bigger proposal, the Muddy Creek Solar Farm south of Brownsville, is still pending. (hh)
From Cox Creek Lane, an unimproved private road south of Highway 20, the solar panels are almost invisible.
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title of this site
