The Biden administration on Tuesday announced more than $11 billion in grants and loan opportunities to expand rural electrification, which it said was the single largest investment in the sector since President Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to cleaner energy provides rural communities with an affordable and reliable power grid, while supporting thousands of new jobs and helping lower energy costs in the future,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “These investments will also combat climate change and significantly reduce air and water pollution that put children’s health at risk.”
He said the USDA was ready to partner with municipalities, tribal entities, entrepreneurs, rural electric cooperatives and other utilities.
The funding is coming through the Inflation Reduction Act, with $9.7 billion available to eligible rural electric cooperatives to deploy renewable energy systems, zero-emission and carbon capture systems. In addition, USDA will also be making $1 billion available in partially forgivable loans to renewable-energy developers and electric service providers to help finance large-scale solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydropower projects and energy storage in support of renewable energy systems.