Published 11:00 am Monday, May 18, 2026
By James Sloan
Energy organizations and advocates across the state are celebrating the construction and opening of Oregon’s first-ever floating solar project in Jackson County.
The project includes 1,700-plus solar panels mounted on floating platforms on the Medford Irrigation District’s re-regulation reservoir next to its district office.
The floating solar project will deliver affordable and locally-made renewable energy to residents and businesses in the Rogue Valley while also conserving water for the farmers and ranchers of the region.
“It’s a really unique, innovative application of solar energy produced right alongside agriculture without taking up valuable or productive farmland,” said Kyle Petrocine, project manager with the Energy Trust of Oregon, one of several organizations involved with the project.
Leaders from around Oregon came out to celebrate the project on Friday, May 8, and a wide range of organizations and agencies collaborated to get it across the finish line.
Some of those organizations include Energy Trust of Oregon, the Farmers Conservation Alliance, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Pacific Power and the U.S. Department of Energy.
“The floating solar project is an example of how we can tackle multiple challenges at once — conserving water, lowering energy costs and supporting the farmers and communities that depend on both,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement. “As drought and extreme heat put more pressure on our water systems, we need smart and innovative investments like this that help communities make the most of every drop.”
Merkley and U.S. Sen Ron Wyden, D-Ore., assisted in securing $1 million in federal funding for the project.
The Energy Trust of Oregon provided the initial funding for the solar project, while the Farmers Conservation Alliance helped develop it afterwards.
“All of this work together makes our agricultural and rural communities stronger and better prepared for the future,” said Julie O’Shea, executive director of the Farmers Conservation Alliance.
The perks of the solar project can be shared by the community as well, with residents in the Rogue Valley being able to subscribe to the Oregon Community Solar Program and get credits on their energy bills.
The program is especially focused on residents and families who live in apartments, shaded areas, are low income or face other situations that would typically make it impossible or difficult to utilize solar power.
To learn more and subscribe to the Oregon Community Solar Program, visit oregoncsp.org.
“The main qualifier is that you are customer within the utility service territory that the project exists in, allowing you to subscribe to this project, projects in the next town over and whatnot,” Petrocine said.
The approximately 1.8-acre array of solar panels will help reduce evaporation in the reservoir as well as shade the body of water and reduce algae and weed growth.
“In the heart of summer down here in the Rogue Valley, those open canals and ponds, when the water’s warm, algae growth really takes off,” Petrocine said. “It takes machinery hours to scoop and strain these huge clumps of algae in the system, and it plugs pipes and other infrastructure.”
The Medford Irrigation District will be responsible for maintaining the solar array.
While the floating solar project is the first of its kind in Oregon, it likely will not be the last of its kind in the state.
“We’re working with a number of different irrigation districts across the state of Oregon, taking a wholistic look at delivery systems and energy savings and water loss assessments,” Petrocine said.
To view other solar-related projects in the region that have been completed or are in the process of being constructed and operational, visit oregoncsp.org/projectfinder.
“This is the first of its kind; it really represents an innovative and creative way that irrigation districts can look to conserve water and also generate electricity and revenue and support their local rural agriculture economy,” Petrocine said.
Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.
James Sloan is a general assignment reporter for the Rogue Valley Times. Hailing from Tennessee, he began his journalism career writing for his alma mater’s student newspaper, The Daily Beacon, in Knoxville before moving to Washington state. He headed out to Southern Oregon in the summer of 2023 and has been a reporter for 4 years.

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