The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sept. 5 announced more than $7.3 billion in financing for 16 cooperatives as part of its largest investment in rural electrification since 1936.
The department released the grants under its Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. The $9.7 billion program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act and designed for cooperatives interested in buying or building new energy systems.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson welcomed the news, calling it a “transformative opportunity” for cooperatives.
“The New ERA program showcases what is possible when the government prioritizes voluntary, flexible decision-making and allows electric co-ops to take a tailored approach to respond to local needs,” he said in a statement.
All but one of the 16 cooperatives have completed the New ERA’s competitive stage and are in the underwriting process to receive an award. They include three co-ops from Colorado: Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association ($679 million), United Power ($261 million) and CORE Electric Cooperative ($225 million).
Tri-State, which provides wholesale power to its 41 members, plans to use the funds to build or buy 1,480 MW of solar, wind and battery storage and to support the retirement of 1,100 MW of coal-fired generation. It said that will eliminate nearly 5.8 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
Texas’ San Miguel Electric Cooperative said that if it is awarded New ERA funds, they will be used to convert the co-op’s lignite operations to 400 MW of solar generation and build a 200-MW battery storage facility. It also could use the funding to refinance debt from its stranded lignite infrastructure, a significant obstacle for the transition to solar generation, it said. San Miguel’s 410-MW coal plant is among the top 30 facilities in emitting mercury.
USDA received more than 160 requests for more than $44 billion in funding. Its first New ERA award ($573 million) went to Wisconsin’s Dairyland Power Cooperative, which plans to procure 1,080 MW of renewable energy through four solar installations and four wind farms across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.
