Completion of Porterville solar plant near

A flip of the switch is just around the corner for Porterville’s new solar station located near the city’s municipal airport.

As of Friday, Southern California Edison anticipated completing most of the initial construction activities at the station just before Christmas, according to SCE spokesperson Gil Alexander.

Immediately following, testing will begin at the station, meaning SCE engineers will turn on some of the solar panels and send their power into the local grid, monitoring how the various components of the 6.7 million watt system work.

According to Alexander, some of the power that local customers use during their family gatherings during the remaining holiday season could well come from the new solar station.

Testing will continue through the first several weeks of January, as will the final site preparation steps such as the removal of excess materials and clean up.

Lastly will come the final inspections and readiness to take an industry step known as “commissioning” — meaning the new power station is fully ready to join other California power plants as a daily source of the power SCE customers need.

A ceremonial groundbreaking is expected to occur by the end of January, toward the first week of February, local SCE spokesperson Cal Rossi said.