A former landfill on Northeast 82nd Avenue is becoming a community solar farm that could lower energy bills for 140 low-income East Portland households.
The 82nd Ave Community Solar project, led by the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), has 130 enrollment spots open for Portland residents who are customers of Pacific Power or Portland General Electric, OPB reported Oct. 21.
Enrolled households could save about $300 a year on electricity, according to APANO, or a combined $900,000 over the project's 20-year lifetime.
The Portland Mercury reported Oct. 12 that the solar farm could cut enrolled customers' bills by up to 50 percent.
Construction crews have begun clearing blackberry bushes and moving dirt on a hilly section of the lot, which sits across the street from McDaniel High School, according to OPB.
The Bird Alliance of Oregon purchased the 12-acre parcel in 2024. The organization plans to build a wildlife hospital and nature sanctuary on the site, which was previously a rock quarry and was later filled with construction debris from the building of Interstate 205.
Duncan Hwang, APANO's community development director, lives a few blocks away. He said the coalition of nonprofits working on the corridor aims to make 82nd Avenue "most transit-rich, affordable, and climate-resilient part of town."
The project is funded by the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), which is investing more than $60 million in revitalizing the 82nd Avenue corridor. That total includes transit and affordable housing funding, according to OPB. The solar installation will be the seventh community solar site PCEF has funded.
Seven arrays of hundreds of solar panels will sit low to the ground on roughly two acres of the lot. The panels will feed electricity into the utility grid and generate bill credits for enrolled households. Community solar lets renters and others who cannot install rooftop panels benefit from solar energy.
The project also includes workforce development. Solar contractor Imagine Energy partnered with Leaders Become Legends, a Portland nonprofit that trains formerly incarcerated people for careers in renewable energy. Co-founder Bretto Jackson told the Portland Mercury that mental health support comes before job training.
"When I recruit my clients, I don't talk about jobs. I say we have generational wealth-building career opportunities," Jackson said at an Oct. 12 project event. He added that the wages from solar projects could help workers buy homes and rebuild their credit.
The project is expected to be completed by February 2027. Portland residents interested in enrolling can apply through APANO or the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
