$2.7bn for US electric co-ops and utilities to improve rural grid security
In a bid for grid security across the US, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $2.7 billion to help 64 rural electric cooperatives and utilities expand and modernise the electric grid.
US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the investment to help expand and modernise the nation’s rural electric grid and increase grid security.
“These critical investments will benefit rural people and businesses in many ways for decades to come,” Vilsack said. “This funding will help rural cooperatives and utilities invest in changes that make our energy more efficient, more reliable and more affordable.”
The funding is being allocated across 64 projects through the Electric Loan Program for rural areas in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The loans include $613 million to help rural utilities and cooperatives install and upgrade smart grid technologies.
Have you read:
New digital twin reference library to further decentralise power grids
2023 predictions: renewables, hydrogen and grid connections
Nearly half of the awards will help finance infrastructure improvements in underserved communities.
The Electric Loan Program makes insured loans and loan guarantees to nonprofit and cooperative associations, public bodies and other utilities.
Insured loans primarily finance the construction of electric distribution facilities in rural areas. The guaranteed loan program has been expanded and is now available to finance generation, transmission and distribution facilities.
Local utilities also use the loans to invest in infrastructure to deliver affordable power to millions of residential, commercial and agricultural consumers.
In the coming months, USDA will announce additional energy infrastructure financing.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act provided more than $12 billion to USDA for loans and grants to expand clean energy and transform rural power production.
