The Glide Fire Station has a new look that will help provide emergency electrical power for the facility and save the department money at the same time.
Thanks to funding grants from the Pacific Power Blue Sky program and the Energy Trust of Oregon, the department qualified for a grant that covered about 80% of the cost of a 69 kilowatt solar project at the station along Highway 138E next to Glide High School.
Beth Werner, business manager for the Glide Rural Fire Protection District, said the entire cost of the solar array and inverter system — $165,080 — was paid for by Pacific Power’s Blue Sky 2018 funding award. The district invested an additional $40,000 to purchase a 20 kilowatt-hour battery backup system to power essential items during an extended electrical outage. The total cost of the project was $212,000.
“This will allow us to be more cost-efficient and to better prepare for a disaster,” Werner said.