DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 5, 2024 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director in Iowa Theresa Greenfield today announced nearly $573 million in financing for a rural electric cooperative serving Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to build clean energy for rural communities across the Midwest through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. Selectee Dairyland Power Cooperative has service areas in northeast Iowa. Together, New ERA and other investments in rural clean energy in the President’s Inflation Reduction Act make up the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936 as part of the New Deal.
Collectively, the 16 selections included in a national announcement from USDA today – funded by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – will leverage private investments of more than $29 billion to build more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy for rural communities across the country. The selectees announced today will reduce and avoid at least 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, equivalent to removing more than 10 million cars off the road every year.
“New ERA selectees will be building resilient clean electric power systems,” said Director Greenfield. “Thanks to USDA and partnerships with rural electric cooperatives like Dairyland, the transition to clean energy speeds up, and rural Iowans will benefit from new jobs and apprenticeships, as well as lower energy costs.”
The first round of selectees and the states they serve are as follows:
- Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc., Pennsylvania and New Jersey
- Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc., Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico
- Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota
- Buckeye Power, Inc., Ohio
- CORE Electric Cooperative, Colorado
- Dairyland Power Cooperative, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
- East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Kentucky
- Golden Valley Electric Association, Alaska
- Great River Energy, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin
- Hoosier Energy, Indiana and Michigan
- Minnkota Power Cooperative, North Dakota and Minnesota
- San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc., Texas
- Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc., Florida
- Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Wyoming
- United Power, Colorado
- Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative, Michigan
The 16 selectees will use New ERA funds to deliver cleaner, more affordable and more resilient electricity; reduce pollution; build or purchase over 10 gigawatts of clean energy; and build 1,892 megawatt hours of battery storage. The projects advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative.
Funding for Dairyland Power Cooperative
Today’s announcement includes the first finalized award in the New ERA program: grant and loan funding of nearly $573 million to Dairyland Power Cooperative. Dairyland’s electric rates are estimated to be 42% lower over 10 years than they would have been without New ERA funding.
Dairyland Power Cooperative plans to leverage its funding for a total investment of $2.1 billion. Funding will be used to develop projects totaling 1,080 megawatts, including eight power purchase agreements, four solar installations and four wind power installations across Dairyland’s service territory.
Dairyland has a strong partnership with labor that will continue on in its New ERA projects, with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Northern Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades, Wisconsin Building Trades Council, and the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association. The Dairyland New ERA project will also include a Farmer Benefit Plan and Union Engagement Plan, which it will co-design with stakeholders as part of a Community Benefit Plan that the cooperative will develop with support from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Clean Energy Community Initiative.
“Dairyland Power Cooperative is honored to receive this New ERA award, which provides Dairyland and our member cooperatives with a tremendous opportunity to continue making vital investments in essential clean energy resources,” said Dairyland Power Cooperative President and CEO Brent Ridge. “Through a carefully cultivated portfolio of renewable energy projects, New ERA will drive substantial carbon reduction across the Dairyland system, facilitate new economic growth and job creation, promote environmental stewardship and lower energy costs for rural and agricultural communities.”
Investments from USDA Rural Development
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and healthcare; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America.
These investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act are powering the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to make USDA programs more inclusive, accessible and available to more people than ever before so that these benefits are felt for generations to come. Many of these programs are also part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which is advancing environmental justice by ensuring that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and other investments reach disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit https://www.usda.gov/.
USDA expects to continue making New ERA and Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program awards in the coming months.
Contact USDA Rural Development
USDA Rural Development has 11 offices across the state to serve the 1.3 million Iowans living in rural communities and areas. Office locations include a state office in Des Moines, along with area offices in Albia, Atlantic, Humboldt, Indianola, Iowa Falls, Le Mars, Mount Pleasant, Storm Lake, Tipton and Waverly.
To learn more about investment resources for rural areas in Iowa, call (515) 284-4663 or visit www.rd.usda.gov/ia. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs, and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety, and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal, and high-poverty areas.
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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.