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Trump Administration Invests $1.04 Billion to Assist Floridians with Rural Electric Infrastructure

Name
Jennifer Dillard
Phone
City
GAINESVILLE
Release Date

Investments to Benefit Rural Residents and Businesses Across the State

GAINESVILLE, Oct. 22, 2020 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Florida / U.S. Virgin Islands State Director Phil Leary today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $1.04 billion to build or improve rural electric infrastructure in Florida, and highlighted a record level of funding for fiscal year (FY) 2020 to upgrade infrastructure.  

“We have an obligation to make sure that each and every rural resident and business in Florida has access to reliable electric infrastructure,” Phil Leary said. “The funding that the Trump administration is providing through the USDA showcases the President’s continued commitment to highlight the importance of our rural communities.  These investments will ensure that reliable infrastructure is in place so that millions of Americans have dependable electric service.”  

Background: 

USDA is investing in 53 projects through the Electric Loan Program. This funding will benefit 1.4 million rural residents and businesses in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. 

Below are some examples of how the funds will be used in Florida:

  • Seminole Electric, headquartered in Tampa, will utilize funds to finance transmission system improvements, generation system capital improvements, and replacement projects.  Seminole Electric is one of the top generation and transmission (G&T) electric cooperatives in the United States.  It provides wholesale electric service to nine electric distribution cooperatives members serving about 1.8 million people and businesses in parts of 42 of Florida's 67 counties.  
  • Tri-County Electric Coop will receive funding to connect 901 consumers and to build and improve 100 miles of line.  This funding includes $400,000 in smart grid technologies.  Tri-County is headquartered in Madison, Florida, and serves an average of 18,552 members over 3,078 miles of line throughout seven counties in the northwestern region of Florida.

Today’s announcement is part of a record level of USDA electric infrastructure investments in one fiscal year. The department  invested $6.3 billion in the Electric Loan Program in FY 2020, up from $5.8 billion in 2019 – also a record. USDA made loans to 119 utilities in 34 states across the country during FY 2020, which ended on September 30. Those figures build upon the $3.7 billion invested in 2018. 

Helping improve rural electric infrastructure is a significant part of the Trump administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. USDA’s Electric Program helps finance wind, solar and natural gas plants, as well as improvements to produce clean energy from coal-fired plants. Local utilities also use the loans to invest in infrastructure to deliver affordable power to thousands of residential, commercial and agricultural consumers. 

Twenty-one of the loans that USDA awarded in FY 2020, representing almost 10 percent of total loan volume by dollar, will help expand smart grid technologies. Smart grid can be a catalyst for broadband and other telecommunications services in unserved and underserved rural areas. These loans will finance nearly 23,000 new line-miles of smart grid fiber when buildout is complete. 

Rural electric cooperatives and utilities are increasing their internal communications capabilities to improve the reliability and efficiency of the electric grid. This added communications capacity helps cooperatives and their partners expand broadband coverage as they leverage these USDA smart grid investments. 

In addition, this year, USDA has made it easier for rural electric utilities and cooperatives to use Electric Program loans for vegetation management programs to prevent and control wildfires.  

During FY 2020, USDA also approved nearly $104 million in loans for 11 energy efficiency programs under the Rural Energy Savings Program and $11.7 million in High Energy Cost Grants to rural communities and villages in Alaska to lower the cost of energy consumption and upgrade aging generation systems. 

Some Electric Program loans are specifically targeted to support the administration’s actions to spur economic development in areas where poverty rates have been stubbornly high for decades.  

To learn more about electric infrastructure and other investment resources for rural areas, interested parties should contact their USDA Rural Development state office. 

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs 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 areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov. 

If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page. 

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