US Awards Over $7.3 Billion In Clean Energy Investments In Rural America

The US government has approved more than $7.3 billion in financing for clean energy investments by 16 rural electric cooperatives, making it the country’s largest ever investment in rural electrification since 1936, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law.  

Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), this $7.3 billion will enable rural cooperatives to mobilize more than $29 billion in rural communities across the nation through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. 

They will build or purchase over 10 GW of clean energy including 4.733 GW of solar, 3.723 MW of wind, 804 MW of nuclear, 357 MW of hydropower, and build over 1,892 MWh of battery storage capacity.  

Selected cooperatives will also be able to make enabling investments in transmission, substation upgrades, and distributed energy resource management software.  

According to The White House, this investment is aimed at lowering costs, creating jobs, and helping rural electric cooperatives transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy. It will be distributed to around 5 million households across 23 states, representing 20% of rural households, farms, businesses, and schools.   

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming, are among the states served by the winning cooperatives.  

The 1st New ERA award recipient with a $573 million grant and loan funding is the Dairyland Power Cooperative. It will procure 1.08 GW of renewable energy through 4 solar installations and 4 wind power projects. The remaining entities selected are in the underwriting process to receive an award.  

A complete list and details of the award and its winners are available on the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development website.