King City >> First Solar’s solar plant planned for southeast Monterey County seems poised to begin making a positive impact on the south Salinas Valley economy.
The company will host a job fair Friday and Saturday in King City, where recruiters plan to assemble construction crews to assemble the 2,900-acre plant. They are hoping to hire roughly 300 workers, from fork lift operators to general laborers.
Representatives from First Solar and McCarthy Construction will interview prospective employees at the King City Recreation Center, 401 Division St., from 1 to 7 p.m. Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Laura Kershner, a business services specialist at the Monterey County Economic Development Department, said the companies “need a variety of different people with different skill sets.”
Construction will begin by the end of 2015, said Laura Abram, director of public affairs at First Solar, and should continue for 36 months.
“First Solar is really committed to local hiring,” said Abram. “We’ve held job fairs like this in the past that typically get a great turnout.”
Joyce Aldrich, executive director of the Monterey County Workforce Investment Board, will also attend the event. Aldrich said that if Monterey County workers are employed, “we’ll see the natural flow of expenditures within our community for those who are hired, and therefore see a little bump up in our economy.”
Steve Adams, city manager of King City, was eager to see new jobs crop up in the community. “We’re very excited,” Adams said. “I think they’ll find some very qualified and skilled people in this area.”
The solar farm, also known as the California Flats Solar Project, will be fitted with First Solar’s low-lying photovoltaic cells. First Solar says the cells will produce 280 megawatts of alternating current, which is already spoken for.
Apple pledged to purchase 130 of the plant’s megawatts, while PG&E has claimed the remaining 150. Apple plans to use the power to fuel its Cupertino headquarters and California retail stores.
Arizona-based First Solar claims the cells could power roughly 100,000 homes each year and displace over 109,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which equates to removing 22,000 cars from California’s roads.
The solar farm will be built on rolling grassland along the borders of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Kern, and King counties.
First Solar cleared a legal hurdle in July when the company negotiated a deal with concerned environmentalist groups to ensure the construction site would be environmentally friendly. The deal entailed reducing construction near Cottonwood Creek, dedicating and protecting 1,070 acres for grassland species, and a ban on rodent poison.
