A Victorville energy company is planning to build a 250-megawatt solar electric plant near Hinkley, which will create dozens of news jobs and provide electricity for about 250,000 High Desert residents.

The Abengoa Mojave Solar plant will be built on a large swath of land nine miles northwest of Hinkley, north of Highway 58 and east of the Kramer Junction. It will employ 68 full-time workers, from top management down to unskilled laborers once it begins operation, said Percy Della, spokesman for the California Energy Commission, which is hosting a public meeting and bus tour of the 1,765-acre site on Wednesday.

Those in attendance at Wednesday's meeting at Barstow City Hall will get a chance to learn about the project and ask questions.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2010, with a targeted completion date of fall 2012.

Payroll for the two-year construction project is estimated at $272 million, with about 830 workers on site per day and more than 1,100 workers on site at the peak of construction. Local expenditures during the construction phase are expected to be more than $100 million, Della said.

"Most of these 68 employees will be hired locally, with some specialized employees coming from outside the area," Della said.

The $1.25 billion power plant will use no fossil fuels, said Scott Frier, chief operating officer for Abengoa Solar, Inc., the company developing and building the power plant.