Corvallis officials hope to rewire the Airport Industrial Park for job-generating solar manufacturers

When John Sechrest looks at all the empty space at the Airport Industrial Park, he sees a wealth of possibilities. And all it would take to turn them into reality is a spark.

Specifically, the Corvallis-Benton Chamber Coalition economic development specialist thinks the city-owned land south of town could be perfect for a solar manufacturer, the kind of large industrial user that could bring much-needed jobs to the area.

"They'd all be HP-style, high-wage jobs," said Sechrest, who manages the 192-acre industrial park under a contract with the city. "What we'd like to do is get a foothold where we get several (solar component plants), so we build up the economy around that industry."

But before that can happen, some provision will need to be made to bring more electrical power to the industrial park. A lot more.

At present, the electrical feed is close to 5 megawatts. That's plenty for the dozen or so tenants already on the site, who use about 1 megawatt of juice. But it's not nearly enough to satisfy the power needs of a factory to produce polysilicon ingots or wafers for the state's burgeoning solar panel industry.

"Typically, we're seeing solar companies request 10, 25, 50, 100 megawatts," Sechrest said.

With generous tax credits, low electric power rates and a tech-savvy work force, Oregon has made itself a mecca for solar manufacturers. Roughly a dozen plants are already running or under construction, promising thousands of jobs in a state that's groaning under the nation's second-highest unemployment rate.

The bonanza's showing no signs of a letup. According to Sechrest, industrial land in Corvallis is getting plenty of looks from solar component makers wanting to site new factories.

"In the last two years, I think we've gotten 24 to 28 leads," Sechrest said. "Of those leads, probably 70 percent were solar" -

including one that came in just last week.

So far, none of those projects has selected Corvallis. But some have come tantalizingly close, most notably a Sanyo silicon ingot facility that went to Salem instead.

According to Sechrest, the Airport Industrial Park made Sanyo's short list of potential plant sites, but Salem got the nod in large part because Corvallis just didn't have enough electric capacity.

"For us to get to the point where we're attractive to a solar manufacturer, we have to have the capability of putting 25 megawatts in within two years," Sechrest said. "We're almost there, but we still have a lot of work to do."

Laying the groundwork

Some of the work has already been done. Over the last two years, Pacific Power has upgraded some of its equipment at the airport to address customer complaints about reliability.

The utility has also engaged in discussions with Sechrest and city officials about the possibility of putting in a new substation to boost electric capacity at the airport.

Several options are available, according to company spokeswoman Doris Johnston.

First, she points out, the industrial park has a fair amount of excess capacity already. With the transmission lines currently in place, Pacific Power can feed up to 5 megawatts to the site, but the exisiting customers use only about one-fifth of that.

By running additional transmission lines south from the Marys River substation, the utility could add another 5 megawatts of capacity. Johnston said that project would cost about $2.8 million and take around 18 months to complete. For $9.4 million, Pacific Power could build a new substation that would add 25 megawatts of capacity in about two years.

The city could smooth the way by identifying the best site for a substation, lining up right-of-way for power lines and addressing potential wetland impacts.

But there's a catch. No electric utility is going to spend millions on new infrastructure until it has a customer for all that power - and the customer would be expected to pay the lion's share of the expense.

"If it's just a small-time overload, that would be spread out over our rate base," Johnston said. "If it is a major user coming in, they would pay for the cost."

Chicken and the egg

It's a frustrating dilemma for city officials hoping to replace some of the hundreds of jobs lost to layoffs at Hewlett-Packard, ATS, Nypro and other local high-tech employers.

"This is a chicken-and-the-egg situation," said Mayor Charlie Tomlinson. "If Pacific Power won't build a substation, do we seek funds to pay for it or do we wait for someone who wants to build a solar manufacturing plant?"

The stakes are high for the city's battered economy. Even a small-scale solar manufacturing facility could mean more than 100 family-wage jobs. The Peak Sun polysilicon plant in Millersburg, for example, is expected to employ more than 500 people at full production, at salaries ranging from $50,000 to $80,000 a year.

For that reason, Tomlinson said local officials will continue to work with Pacific Power to make sure the utility can quickly ramp up electric capacity at the Airport Industrial Park if a solar manufacturer with hefty power needs comes calling.

"It would be huge because what it would do would be to redirect some of the technology people in the community who have been laid off," Tomlinson said. "This is a retention strategy."

Corvallis' time to shine?

Even though solar companies have passed over Corvallis so far, it's not an unrealistic strategy, according to state economic development officials.

Bob Warren, a regional representative for Business Oregon (formerly the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department), said the city has a growing reputation as a "progressive community" that supports renewable energy. Combined with its abundance of buildable industrial land, that could be a powerful lure for a solar manufacturer.

"We believe Corvallis could be pretty attractive for something like that," Warren said. "Solar would be welcomed by the community."

Erik Andersson, a former member of the Governor's Economic Revitalization Team who now does economic development for Pacific Power, has been working with Sechrest to plan for expanded electrical capacity at the airport.

He thinks Oregon has done a good job of laying the foundation for long-term economic growth, and Corvallis is well-positioned to take advantage of it.

The state's efforts to identify "shovel-ready" land for industrial development - including 42 acres at the Airport Industrial Park - have done a lot to raise Oregon's profile with corporate site-selection teams, Andersson said.

The Business Energy Tax Credit, which can cover up to half the cost of building renewable energy facilities, has made the state especially alluring for solar component makers. And while most of those plants have gone to the Portland area so far, Andersson notes that there have been some important exceptions, such as the Sanyo plant in Salem and Peak Sun in Millersburg.

"I think we see the trend that this is going to be going farther south," Andersson said. "And when that happens, I think Corvallis will have a real shot."

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.