Pacific Rim Tonewoods is leveraging solar panels to help ensure a more sustainable future.
By David Schmidt
Sunlight powers many things at Pacific Rim Tonewoods.
For millennia, sunshine has nurtured trees in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii that become PRT’s legendary tonewoods. Now—thanks to a major new solar-power initiative—this same renewable-energy source is powering half of the company’s electrical needs at their Concrete, Washington headquarters and mill site.
“I’m a great advocate for renewable energy,” said Steve McMinn, PRT’s co-owner, noting that minimizing waste and increasing efficiency dovetails with the company’s long-held business practices. Musical instruments are an important cultural artifact, and milling wood for guitars and other stringed instruments creates good jobs. Our solar project helps us better utilize our natural resources and helps ensure future jobs in the communities we live and work in.
Rural Energy for America Builds Strong Communities
All sawmills require significant power. PRT became involved with solar energy over a decade ago when they installed 36 rooftop panels at their Skagit Valley mill and another 36 panels at a nearby tree-growing site. Then, in early 2024, PRT was awarded $411,735 in USDA Inflation Reduction Act—Rural Energy for America Program funding that enabled the company to add an additional 814 rooftop panels at their Concrete facility. This installation produces about 390,000 kilowatt hours of electrical power per year, about half of PRT’s annual usage. For context, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the average American house draws about 10,800 kWh of electricity per year, so PRT’s new solar installation produces enough clean, renewable energy to power about 35 homes.
Surplus power generated during weekends and holidays feeds back into the grid. “This is possible thanks to the miracle of net metering,” said McMinn, describing the power-sharing arrangement where locally produced solar-generated electricity cancels out PRT’s annual grid draw. “It’s much better than storing the energy inexpensive batteries, and it allows us to offset our own power use.”
In addition to the USDA grant (approved in March 2024), some tax credits and deductions also came together to make the installation possible. Without this funding, McMinn said that PRT would have had to—in effect—prepay years’ worth of their annual electrical bill to purchase and install the panels. But, thanks to this combination of grants and incentives, McMinn said that the timeframe dropped precipitously. “Prepaying for seven to ten years’ worth of power can’t work,” he said. “But two years works.”
Even with this funding, PRT had to invest over $400,000 for the project. Fortunately, the company has worked with Washington-based Heritage Bank for years, and—because of this relationship—the bank formulated a loan, called a “drawdown line of credit,” that allowed PRT to access funding as needed. “They made it possible,” said McMinn about this custom-written loan.
Advanced technology, improved efficiencies
As of January 2025, the USDA Inflation Reduction Act—Rural Energy for America Program funding awarded to PRT was unexpectedly frozen indefinitely following an executive order by Donald Trump. "We were caught off guard, to say the least," said McMinn. "PRT met all the contractual requirements, having signed an agreement with the U.S. federal government in March 2024. We invested the funds with confidence, not in the hope of reimbursement, but based on a signed contract with a trusted entity."
While this breach of contract could be addressed through legal action under different circumstances, the unique situation with the U.S. government prevents such recourse. As of now, PRT continues to incur interest on the loan.
