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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Visits Brunswick Farmers’ Market to Announce $2.4M in Clean Energy Awards

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Leigh Hallett
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Bangor
Release Date

Forty-one REAP Grants Announced Today Will Help 
Strengthen Maine Farms and Rural Small Businesses

Brunswick, Maine, July 26, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced from the Brunswick Farmers’ Market today that USDA is partnering with farmers and small businesses to expand access to clean energy and lower energy bills through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and the Rural Energy for America Technical Assistance Grant Program (REAP TAG). USDA Rural Development Maine State Director Rhiannon Hampson joined Secretary Vilsack to announce forty-one REAP grants totaling $2.4 million for small rural businesses and farms in Maine.

“Maine is leading the way in REAP grants, making meaningful investments in our food system and making a difference for farmers’ bottom lines,” said Director Hampson. “‘I lead’ is not just our state motto, it is a way of doing business. That is certainly true at USDA Rural Development, where we are putting Inflation Reduction Act funding to the highest and best use supporting small businesses and agricultural producers.”

Today's announcement followed an Investing in America Town Hall Meeting held by Secretary Vilsack at the University of Maine in Orono on Thursday. There he underscored USDA’s focus on increasing income, reducing costs, and enhancing the resiliency of rural businesses and agricultural producers. The Secretary also discussed the importance of farms and small businesses for rural communities and the “ripple effect” they can have on everything from the food supply to economic development to rural healthcare availability.

Secretary Tom Vilsack addresses an audience at a podium outdoors at a farmers' market with shoppers and tents in the background.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addresses an audience at the Brunswick Farmers' Market July 26, 2024.

To further emphasize the value of diverse farms to rural economies, Secretary Vilsack met with farmers and delivered the REAP announcement at the Brunswick Farmers’ Market. “The Biden-Harris Administration is partnering with people in rural communities across our nation to expand access to clean energy and save rural Americans money,” Secretary Vilsack said. “We are hard at work, continuing what we've always done, supporting rural small businesses and farmers as they create jobs for their communities and drive economic prosperity.”

REAP enables agricultural producers and rural small business owners to expand their use of wind, solar, geothermal and small hydropower energy and make energy efficiency improvements with grants to pay for up to 50% of project costs. Thus far Rural Development has invested $226 million in 155 REAP projects in Maine under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Maine State Director Hampson has prioritized supporting REAP projects under $20,000 with a portion of available funding. “It has been important to me to create an equity of access to these dollars, allowing small projects and small businesses to have just as many opportunities as the big guys,” she said today. “For USDA, ‘Investing in America’ means investing in rural businesses, farms, and food producers, one dollar at a time.”

Here are examples of the awards being announced today:

  • Copper Tail Farm, a Waldoboro goat dairy and member of the Brunswick Farmers’ Market, will use a $16,700 REAP grant to install an 18.8kW roof mount solar photovoltaic system.
  • The Bankery and Skowhegan Fleuriste LLC will use a $35,000 REAP grant to install a 21kW roof-mount solar photovoltaic system on the company’s downtown Skowhegan bakery and floral shop.
  • TLK Real Estate Holdings LLC (The Lost Kitchen) in Freedom will use a $69,000 REAP grant to install a new generator as a retrofit to its existing hydroelectric system. This project is expected to save $12,424 per year.

A complete list of all Maine REAP projects can be found online.

REAP Technical Assistance Grants:

Among the forty-one Maine REAP grants announced today were two REAP Technical Assistance Grants. Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) was awarded a $100,000 REAP TAG and Island Institute secured a $150,000 REAP TAG. Both nonprofit organizations will use the funding to recruit and assist rural small business owners and agricultural producers in applying for REAP grants, prioritizing people in distressed or disadvantaged communities.

Rockland-based Island Institute has an established track record supporting businesses on the working waterfront. "By stabilizing energy costs, improving resilience and reducing carbon emissions, clean energy solutions create a ‘win-win-win’ for Maine’s island and rural coastal businesses,” said Kim Hamilton, President of Island Institute. “With funding from Rural Development’s REAP TAG, Island Institute will build on decades of work with small owner-operated fishermen, sea farmers and marine businesses to make sure they can access USDA resources to make their clean energy transitions possible.”

Betsy Biemann, CEO of Coastal Enterprises, Inc (CEI), noted that the REAP TAG grant would help that organization support sustainability for businesses around the state. “This grant will enable CEI to work with owners of small businesses and farms, helping them and Maine’s rural communities have greater access to clean energy and energy efficiency improvements through the USDA REAP program," she said.  "This in turn will help these rural businesses to reduce their energy costs and be more resilient in the face of the changing climate.” Biemann hosted Secretary Vilsack, Director Hampson, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commissioner Amanda Beal, and USDA program beneficiaries for a conversation at CEI in Brunswick prior to the grant announcement at the farmers’ market.

Background: Rural Energy for America Program

USDA continues to accept REAP applications and has set aside a portion of the program funds to support underutilized renewable energy technologies, like wind and geothermal power. For additional information, see the REAP Program Fact Sheet or contact Katrina Shaw, USDA Rural Development Maine State Energy Coordinator (email Katrina.shaw@usda.gov or call 207-990-9129). To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit the GovDelivery Subscriber Page.

 

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