OROVILLE, Calif. — Oroville City Council members have taken a significant step toward establishing a city-owned public energy utility, currently operating under the working name “Oro Verde.” While the utility exists in name only at this stage, the necessary infrastructure to provide power to residents is yet to be developed.

Butte Renewable Energy Inc. (BREI) plans to construct a 100-acre solar farm and enter into an agreement with the city once the project is completed.

“There’s a lot of things that have to come together to be able to do something like this and sort of the stars of a line for us to be able to pull this off. So not every city can just take this on. And it’s a lot of effort, but it’s worthwhile. So we’re really excited about doing this,” said Patrick Piatt, community development director for the city of Oroville.

Piatt noted there is confusion in Oroville regarding how the biomass plant BREI is developing relates to the city owning its utility. While the plant may eventually provide power for the utility, this has not been determined and was not the plant’s original purpose. Piatt aims for the utility to begin distributing power around Aug. 2026, but this timeline could change.

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