Community solar project brings savings to Cully neighborhood
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The PDX Community Solar project is helping Cully residents save on their utility bills. Photo: Courtesy of the Port of Portland.
Last month, a giant array of solar panels began delivering power to 150 homes in the Cully neighborhood as the PDX Community Solar project, the largest in Portland, finally came online.
Why it matters: The project, which has been in the works since 2019, will provide the benefits of solar to folks who typically don't have the resources or roofspace to install the panels themselves.
The big picture: The rollout of the new project in Portland is part of an effort to bring community solar to people across the state after the passage of Senate Bill 1547, which calls for up to 160 megawatts of solar power to be deployed in Oregon.
- Oregonians have seen the cost of energy surge in recent years, especially for residential customers, whose electricity bills increased 30% between 2020 and 2024.
Zoom in: The 1 mega-watt array, made up of some 2,200 solar panels on 3 acres in Northeast Portland, will deliver savings to roughly 150 homes of low-income residents, bolster the Portland International Airport's green energy resources and provide power to a nearby homeless shelter.
- The project was a collaboration between the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, the Port of Portland, and Verde, an environmental justice nonprofit based in Cully.
- It was funded, in part, through the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund.
How it works: Eligible residents subscribe for a fee and receive credits on their electricity bills.
- Applicants must live in Northeast Portland, get power from Pacific Power, and earn 80% or less of Oregon's median income.
By the numbers: Roughly 40% of the power generated will go to the Portland International Airport, with the other 60% flowing to subscribers.
- Those folks will save between 30 and 40% on their yearly utility bills, Evan Ramsey, director of renewables at the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, said in a statement.
- The benefits will be cumulative over the life of the project, Ramsey said, and will help address gentrification and will reduce the burden of utility costs for the people who need help the most.
The bottom line: The project "is a transformative investment to support the residents in the Cully neighborhood — one of Portland's most racially and ethnically diverse," Tatiana Siegenthaler-Rodriguez, a program manager at Verde, said in a statement.