Pictured: Mr. Aaron Webb of Webb Farm Solar Systems Inc. has received assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to develop energy-efficiency improvements.
In a major boost for America’s rural economies, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has announced funding of more than $250 million for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in nearly every state. More than 1,100 clean energy projects across 40 states will receive support through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), made possible in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in clean energy and climate action in the nation’s history.
Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA has invested more than $2.7 billion through REAP in 9,901 renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement projects. Almost 7,000 of these projects were funded by over $1 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are ensuring farmers, small business owners, and rural communities have the resources they need for the future,” Secretary Vilsack said. “The investments I’m announcing today will help rural communities lead our country toward an economy that benefits working people everywhere with lower costs and clean energy jobs.”
Some of the projects that the latest tranche of REAP funding will support include:
- IPR Fresh, a produce wholesaler in Nogales, Arizona, will use its grant of more than $350,000 for a solar-power system expected to save nearly $67,000 a year and provide 100% of the company’s electricity.
- Hydro Technology Systems Inc. in Stevens County, Washington, will invest its REAP funding of more than $172,000 in a hydropower retrofit turbine that will help generate enough hydroelectricity to power around 760 homes.
- Tinedale Project LLC in Brown County, Wisconsin, will use a loan of more than $22 million for a dairy manure anaerobic digester that will capture bio-methane and convert it into renewable natural gas to be transported through a local utility pipeline. The project is expected to create three jobs.
- Thanks to a loan of just under $100,000, the Gary Freed family farm in Jenera, Ohio, will purchase an energy-efficient grain dryer, offsetting 64% of the farm’s annual energy consumption. It is estimated that this project will save the farm $26,862 in annual energy costs while saving 493,811 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 45 homes.