The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is awarding $47 million in loans for two electric infrastructure projects in rural Oregon, announced State Director Vicki Walker today.
“Maintaining and improving electric utility systems in rural America supports economic development, creates jobs, and ensures rural residents have reliable access to affordable electricity,” said Walker. “With today’s funding, USDA is helping to increase the efficiency of utilities, reduce carbon emissions, and improve the quality of life in rural areas.”
This funding is being provided through USDA Rural Development’s Electric Program, which makes loans and loan guarantees to nonprofits, cooperative associations, public bodies, and other utilities, primarily for electric distribution in rural areas.
The Umatilla Electric Cooperative in northeast Oregon is receiving a $43 million loan to install 112 miles of transmission lines to improve services for its approximately 10,000 members. This consumer owned electric cooperative was created in 1937 with assistance from the Rural Electrification Administration, a predecessor to Rural Development. The cooperative will use $400,000 of the loan to finance smart grid technologies, which increase the reliability of electric power by helping utilities better manage the electric grid to improve operational efficiencies. Smart grid technologies include metering, substation automation, computer applications, two-way communications, geospatial information systems, and other improvements.
West Oregon Electric Cooperative was formed by residents of rural northwest Oregon in 1944 with assistance from the Rural Electrification Administration. Under today’s announcement, the cooperative is receiving a $4 million loan to replace and upgrade 21 miles of outdated underground transmission lines originally installed in the 1970s and 1980s in order to improve access to electric power for local residents.
Today’s awards for these two Oregon projects is part of a nationwide announcement of $2.3 billion in loans to help 77 utilities and cooperatives build and improve rural electric infrastructure across rural America. Funding of each award announced today is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the loan agreement.
USDA has been committed to improving the production and transmission of electricity in rural communities since the creation of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935. Since the start of the Obama administration alone, USDA has funded $34 billion in electric loans and more than $1 billion for smart grid technologies. This assistance has helped build more than 185,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines serving approximately 8.5 million rural customers.