Portland students mobilize for neighborhood utility

Armed with a $10,000 grant and a lot of enthusiasm, student volunteers are attempting to rally Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood to build a community-owned utility.

Dozens of university students from campuses throughout the state formed the Northwest Institute for Community Energy (NICE) this summer to raise awareness and support for a district energy project in Southeast Portland that's been proposed by developer John Sorenson'.

"They are really helping out in this, but it's also providing a great opportunity for them to understand the significance of attempting to shift something in a social manner," said Sorenson, owner of MidTech Energy. "This is going to take a great deal of public will to do this, and I'm working on it as a private developer."

Earlier this year, Sorenson announced his plans to develop a Sunnyside Neighborhood Energy utility, a geothermal pump based at the Sunnyside Environmental School connected to a network of underground pipes that would heat and cool as many as 500 homes with energy from the earth.