Biden administration allocates $375 million for rural renewable energy

The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will direct $375 million to renewable energy projects, mostly through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The funding, announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, includes $275 million from Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE), an IRA program dedicated to renewable rural electrification. The funds will go to communities in Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky and Nebraska. The two largest awards will go to battery storage systems in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Soldotna substation on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, which will both receive $100 million.

PACE will also provide $55.2 million for three battery storage projects in Benson, Arizona; $16.6 million for a hydroelectric power plant on the Kentucky River; and $3.6 million for a community solar plant in Madison, Nebraska.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will also award $100 million in grants and loans through its Rural Energy for America (REAP) program in 39 states and Puerto Rico. The largest of these will include grants of more than $84,000 for heat mats and LED lighting in Auxvasse, Missouri, and an $82,000 grant for an energy-efficient grain dryer in St. Lawrence County, New York. REAP, which will be accepting applications through the end of September, has awarded more than $2 billion since the start of the Biden administration.

“We are excited to partner with hundreds more family farms and small businesses, as well as rural electric cooperatives and local clean energy developers, to address the impacts of climate change, grow economies and ensure rural communities across the country are strong and resilient,” Vilsack said in a statement.

The announcement comes about a year after the administration announced $11 billion in IRA funds to support rural renewable energy. Most of the money will go to rural electric cooperatives. The administration has said it would be the largest injection of cash into rural electrification since the New Deal in the 1930s.

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