The Crook County Planning Commission will discuss its proposed renewable-energy ordinance at its meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Crook County Meeting Room, 320 N.E. Court St., in Prineville.
Solar arrays could follow the West Butte wind farm as the next renewable energy projects to make their way to Crook County, as several solar companies have been making inquiries about the area, according to county officials.
“It appears that solar farms are the next hot item,” said Bill Zelenka, county planning director. “There’s probably three or four tire-kickers out there.”
One company, which Zelenka did not identify, is considering building a 45-acre solar array, he said.
But the company agreed to wait while Crook County develops an ordinance to outline the requirements for individuals and companies to put in wind turbines and solar panels, Zelenka said.
A public hearing on the issue is scheduled for Wednesday evening during the county’s Planning Commission meeting.
“We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries from people, both single property owners wanting to install a wind turbine, and also ... energy companies,” said Heidi Bauer, assistant planning director.
But the county doesn’t have anything specific in its code that determines what the rules are for wind and solar power, she said. The West Butte project was approved under the standard conditional use process.
The proposed ordinance will make noncommercial solar power an outright permitted use, and also say that noncommercial wind turbines are OK as well, as long as they meet certain height requirements.
Designing the rules for commercial solar installations is “a little more tricky,” Bauer said. “There’s really not (an Oregon) county yet that has a solar farm ordinance in place. I know a lot of counties are looking at it.”
The rules would include requiring a company to only level the minimal amount of ground for a solar project, avoid construction activities near raptor nests during breeding season, design the facility so that the concentrated solar radiation would not be reflected to residences or public roads, use certain cleaning solvents when the array is operating, and more.
For commercial wind projects, the proposed ordinance would require a company to submit plans for wildlife impact monitoring, transportation, emergency management, erosion control, dismantling procedures and more. It also addresses other issues like noise and visual impacts.
The hearing on Wednesday, as well as one later in the month, will give members of the public time to comment on the proposal, Bauer said.
The county hopes to have the ordinance in place by April, Zelenka said, and the interested solar company could submit an application in the summer.
So far, the largest solar array in the Pacific Northwest is at the Gresham wastewater treatment plant, said Diana Enright, spokeswoman with the Oregon Department of Energy.
And a solar array in Christmas Valley will use equipment from PV Powered, a Bend company, she noted.
But until recently, most of the solar power has been smaller, roof-mounted panels, she said — not the arrays now discussed for Central and Eastern Oregon.
Kate Ramsayer can be reached at 541-617-7811 or kramsayer@bendbulletin.com.
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