Illinois Valley News

The Josephine County Courthouse typically is pretty empty after 5 o“clock in the evening, save for the occasional janitor dutifully moving through the marble halls.

But every first Wednesday, Room 157 fills during that time as members of the county“s Renewable Energy Task Force arrive for their regular meeting.

The group has been together nearly two years, discussing ways that Josephine County can capitalize on the trend toward renewable energy. It was put together by Commissioner Dave Toler, an Illinois Valley resident.

Members are Karen Zimmer from the Josephine County Homebuilders Association; Steve Dahl, the economic development director for the city of Grants Pass; Michael Smith from Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc.; a representative from the Bureau of Land Management, and some citizens just hoping to make a difference.

During the group“s Wednesday, Jan. 6 meeting, Toler discussed his recent trip to the SolarWorld Hillsboro facility, comprising 480,000 square feet of space.

Toler said that the company has grown 30 percent during the past two years, despite the bad economy. It will eventually expand to approximately 1,000 full-time employees, he added, and there are plans to build the largest photovoltaic plant in the nation and possibly the world.

The success of SolarWorld was made possible by Oregon“s Business Energy Tax Credit program, Toler said. That program has come under fire in recent months after revelations of unanticipated cost overruns.

But despite SolarWorld“s anticipated growth, Toler said that the company is facing a possible labor shortage. While there is an abundance of qualified engineers in the Hillsboro area, he said, there is a lack of blue collar labor. Such labor is plentiful in Southwestern Oregon, Toler added.

As such, he said that the company possibly could produce its cells in Hillsboro and ship them to a site in Josephine County for framing. He announced that he has approached SolarWorld executives with that idea.

Also discussed during the task force meeting was the region“s possible role in aiding the production of wind energy.

Toler reported that the consortium is looking to establish a conduit between the suppliers of wind generator parts and the companies running the generators. A “connectivity plan“ is being looked at, he said, as most of the wind capacity in Oregon is concentrated in its northeast and possibly on the coast.

Companies in Josephine County could produce some of those parts, Toler stated. He added that one area firm already is indirectly supplying them.

“These are the places we need to look,“ Toler said. “Those things have hundreds of moving parts.“

Dahl said that Germany, where SolarWorld has a plant, currently leads the world in producing those parts. In response, Smith stated that the companies installing the windmills would prefer to purchase those parts from firms in Oregon.

Smith said that there are manufacturers in Josephine County that can help fill that need. In particular, he mentioned All Trax in Wilderville, and Merlin-based firms K&J Precision and Friesen.

Josephine County“s Renewable Energy Task Force will meet again on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

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