2024 was yet another monumental year in the fight for the future of Rural Electric Cooperatives (RECs). The Rural Power Coalition’s steadfast advocacy for electric co-ops and rural communities bore fruit, as $9 billion in federal REC investments from the New ERA program have been ‘obligated’! According to the USDA, 45 million rural citizens, 35,000 family farms, and 430 co-ops are expected to benefit from the New ERA program, while supporting 25,000 jobs!

The term “agrivoltaics” refers to the integration of agriculture and solar energy production, where ground-mounted solar panels are co-located with compatible agricultural practices. Agrivoltaic systems commonly involve keeping livestock pastured alongside solar arrays or even growing vegetable or fruit crops underneath them. Agrivoltaics also include solar sites that incorporate pollinator habitats throughout the array.

Today, we’re excited to share that the first round of New ERA projects with a total investment of $29 billion has been announced with $7.3 billion in federal support. These investments in 16 cooperatives, benefitting roughly 20% of rural residents across 23 states, promise to revolutionize rural America's energy landscape with 10,000 MW of clean power, including investments in wind, solar, and battery storage.

This spring, the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced two final rules to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions of coal-, oil-, and gas-fired power plants in the US.

The continuation of the funding levels in the Farm Bill for New ERA, PACE, and REAP, as well as the extension of the RESP deadline, are essential to rebuilding our rural electric infrastructure.

In an inclusive utility investment program, a utility provides capital to pay for energy efficiency upgrades at a member-owner’s home, farm, or business and recovers its costs through a charge on the customer’s utility bill.

A CBP is a tool for increasing the benefits that flow to communities with an associated project. CBPs are non-binding agreements between a project applicant or developer and key community and labor stakeholders. 

2023 proved to be another pivotal year in the fight for the future of Rural Electric Cooperatives.

The day has finally come for USDA to make $9.7 billion available in grants, loans, and loan modification under the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program.

The overall sentiment of the PowerXchange conference, and the keynote from NRECA director, Jim Matheson, was that now is the time to lead.

RPC will be focusing our efforts to assist G&T, distribution rural electric cooperatives, and our partners with resources and information to apply for the IRA programs of New ERA (Empowering Rural America), Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), Direct Pay Tax Credits, and the Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program.

Funding will help rural electric cooperatives deploy renewable energy systems and help finance large-scale solar, wind, geothermal and other clean energy projects

After the Rural Power Coalition (and supporters like you) called for the USDA to provide additional opportunities for stakeholder feedback, the Rural Utility Service has scheduled 13 virtual round table discussions. Unfortunately, the schedule was only released last week, and the sessions start this week!

In response to a call for public comments regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, RPC rallied 60+ organizations serving and/or in support of Rural Electric Cooperatives and 200+ individuals and member-owners to provide verbal comments and sign on to joint letters.

The Inflation Reduction Act contains historic investments in rural electrification that will help secure the energy transition, save rural families money, and create 90,000 rural jobs over the next ten years.

This 2-page fact sheet highlights a fraction of what’s in the Inflation Reduction Act for Rural Electric Cooperatives.

Today, the Rural Power Coalition sent the following letter to White House Cabinet Members and Officials asking them to ensure the voices of rural communities are heard throughout the implementation process of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It is imperative that underserved communities have the opportunity to offer their input on how the IRA should be implemented.

We also make the case that distributing the funds without a Justice40 protocol similar to the one implemented at the Department of Energy is a hazard to the IRA’s impact and the impact it will have on our communities.

More than $10 billion to support Rural Electric Cooperatives!

A new report by the Democracy Collaborative has found that community utilities are better suited for a green transition than their for-profit corporate counterparts.