RELEASE: HUNDREDS OF GROUPS, COMPANIES, NONPROFITS ASK AG COMMITTEE LEADERS TO PROTECT CLEAN ENERGY FUNDING IN FARM BILL NEGOTIATIONS

Billings, MT – Today the Rural Power Coalition joined a diverse range of more than 300 industry groups and companies to send a letter to Senate and House Agriculture Committee leaders. The letter, which was led by Agriculture Energy Coalition, urges Congress to preserve funding for farm bill energy title programs provided in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. It also asks Congress to codify in farm bill language the improvements and policy changes to existing USDA Rural Development programs that were adopted in the IRA act.

“USDA’s energy, bioeconomy and RD programs enable producers and businesses alike to make essential investments in energy and rural resilience, saving consumers and producers on energy costs,” the groups write. “The 2022 funding for USDA’s unique energy programs will help rural communities get ahead diversifying energy resources while improving energy security, the environment and public health.”

The letter is attached and available for download.

“Congress made historic investments in rural electrification in the Inflation Reduction Act on a scale not seen since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936,” said Erik Hatlestad, Energy Democracy Program Director at Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) and member of the Rural Power Coalition. “Maintaining and growing these resources for rural cooperatives and communities is fundamentally important.”

“At a crucial time when energy costs are driving inflation and impacting the pocketbooks of all Americans, Congress should maintain bipartisan support for rural businesses and communities to make cleaner energy more accessible and affordable,” said Lloyd Ritter, Ag Energy Coalition Executive Director. “The incentives and improvements to energy programs passed in the Inflation Reduction Act last year should be codified to further help residents in rural and disadvantaged communities breathe cleaner air and access affordable, clean energy.”

Adam Warthesen, Director of Government & Industry Affairs with CROPP Cooperative, added, “Now is the time and opportunity to make renewable energy more accessible for farms and businesses in rural communities. The Rural Energy for America Program, for instance, is sound public policy that leverages private investment while making businesses more resilient. We should strive to have renewable energy on every dairy farm in America.”

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About Rural Electric Cooperatives (RECs). Rural Electric Cooperatives provide electricity to more than 42 million Americans across 56% of the United States’ landmass. They provide electricity to more than 90% of the persistent poverty counties in the United States, including communities of color in the Southern Black Belt, the Mississippi Delta, the borderlands along the U.S.-Mexico border, and Native American nations across the country.

About the Rural Power Coalition (RPC). RPC is a group of 15 place-based organizations representing rural electric cooperative member-owners from the five dirtiest electric co-ops and other disadvantaged rural areas throughout the United States. RPC sees a future for electric cooperatives that is grounded in justice, democracy, and resilience. To achieve this vision, RPC has put forth a bold, yet common sense proposal to help all rural electric cooperatives make this transition and build a clean energy system for every resident in their service areas.