A rural electric cooperative in Wisconsin is set to receive $573 million in government funding as part of the Biden administration’s latest massive clean energy effort.
The administration annoounced it will spend $7.3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act to finance the projects for rural electric cooperatives across the nation where 42 million Americans depend on electric poweer. Sixteen projects will be funded with a goal of reducing energy costs and also boosting reliability for those who live in rural areas of America. None will be in Oklahoma.
Reuters reported the first project is four solar installations for Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse,, Wisconsin and wind power projects in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. This nearly $573 million investment is the first New ERA award. Dairyland’s electric rates are estimated to be 42 percent lower over 10 years than they would have been without New ERA funding, and they plan to leverage this funding for a total project investment of $2.1 billion.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a press release stated, “One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean energy investments, thanks to partnerships with rural electric cooperatives like Dairyland. Put simply, this is rural power, for rural America.”
The announcement of the funding explained the money is coming from the IRA’s Empowering Rural America program. It also claimed that more than 43 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution a year will be prevented. The projects will also reportedly create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs.
Of the 16 other possible recipients of government funding, they include the Allegheny Electric Cooperative serving rural areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey; the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.; The Basin Electric Power Cooperative serving Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota; Buckeye Power in Ohio; CORE Electric in Colorado; East Kentucky Power Cooperative; the Golden Valley Electric Association in Alaska; Great River Energy serving parts of Minnesota and North Dakota; Hoosier Energy serving parts of Indiana and Michigan; Minnkota Power Cooperative in North Dakota; San Miguel Electric Cooperative in South Texas; Seminole Electric Cooperative in Florida; Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. serving parts of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico as well as Nebraska and Wyoming; United Power in Colorado; and Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative in Michigan.
