Siskiyou Opportunity Center in Mount Shasta, California is in the final stage of beginning to produce its own biomass electricity from wood chips, the Mount Shasta Herald reports. The biomass machine, designed and built by Colorado-based Community Power Corporation, will be the first commercial biomass machine of its kind in the U.S., according to the Herald.
SOC provides training and work for developmentally disabled adults, including a recycling center and wood shop (that’s where it will get the wood chips) that manufactures outdoor furnishings
The 25 kilowatt biomass machine is undergoing final testing and an SOC employee has been sent to Colorado to learn how to operate and maintain the machine.
Additional entities involved with the project, which was funded with over $1 million in grants, include Shasta Energy Group, California Energy Commission and Pacific Power Corporation.