The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $464 million to build or improve renewable energy infrastructure and to help rural communities, agricultural producers, and businesses lower energy costs in 48 states and Puerto Rico, according to a Sept. 9 announcement from USDA secretary Tom Vilsack.
“USDA continues to prioritize climate-smart infrastructure to help rural America build back better, stronger, and more equitably than ever before,” Vilsack said. “We recognize that lowering energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers helps to expand economic development and employment opportunities for people in America’s rural towns and communities. The investments we are announcing today demonstrate how the Biden-Harris Administration has put rural communities at the heart of climate action and climate-smart solutions.”
USDA is financing $129 million of these investments through the Rural Energy for America Program, which helps agricultural producers and rural small businesses purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements. The remaining $335 million is financed through the Electric Loan Program, which helps build or improve 1,432 miles of line in rural areas and includes $102 million for investments in smart grid technology.
Projects that will receive funding include a $25 million loan to Red Trail Energy LLC in North Dakota to build a carbon-capture processing and storage facility at an ethanol manufacturing facility; a $95 million load to Prairie State Solar LLC to construct a 99 megawatt solar photovoltaic farm on 621 acres in Perry County, Ill.; and a $599,000 grant to Gulf Coast Solar LLC in Mississippi to make energy efficiency improvements at three wastewater treatment facilities in Hancock County.