Oregon Public Broadcasting

President Obama set aside $467 million in stimulus money Wednesday for solar and geothermal energy projects.

Oregon renewable energy advocates cheered the news.

Scientists say it could help the state’s fledgling green energy research facilities.

And investors say it could encourage the construction and development of major solar and geothermal projects.

Doug Perry is the president of Davenport Power. His group wants to build a geothermal power plant south of Bend.

Doug Perry: “There’s provisions in there for geothermal, for instrumentation, and then there’s several categories for solar projects. It’s a broader renewable package, all designed to create new opportunities for a lot more renewable energy going forward – a goal we all share.”

Perry’s company already drilled two geothermal wells – but both came up empty.

Perry says investment in future technologies, such as $80 million set aside for so-called Enhanced Geothermal Systems, could help make those wells more economically viable.