BISMARCK, N.D., Jan. 10, 2025 – As part of a nationwide announcement totaling $6 billion in clean energy investments announced today by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, USDA Rural Development State Director Erin Oban highlighted the more than $1.5 billion of that investment, awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, in North Dakota. Rural electric cooperatives headquartered in and will use the funding to support thousands of jobs, lower electricity costs for businesses and families, and reduce climate pollution by millions of tons each year.
New ERA was made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
New ERA is also one of the covered programs in the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy and other investment areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
“Throughout the last four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has prioritized investments in and created tremendous opportunity for rural America. The impacts and legacy of those investments in our infrastructure, businesses, cooperatives, communities, and people here in North Dakota will be experienced for decades to come,” said State Director Oban. “We commend and congratulate both Basin Electric and Great River Energy for seizing this once-in-a-generation opportunity and appreciate their continued dedication to serving rural people and places.”
In North Dakota:
- Great River Energy will use a $794 million investment to procure 1,275 megawatts of renewable energy in rural areas across Minnesota and North Dakota. Projects will include large-scale wind energy, distributed renewable energy and other innovative investments. The investment is expected to create over 1,600 jobs, reduce costs for members by approximately $40 million each year, and climate pollution by over 5.49 million tons each year.
- Basin Electric Power Cooperative will use a $775 million investment to procure both additional renewable energy generation and enhance existing cooperative-owned renewable assets, which are expected to total over 1,400 megawatts to serve its cooperative members in nine states. These projects will create short and long-term jobs, reduce carbon pollution, and provide estimated cost benefits of over $400 million to members over the life of the New ERA program.
USDA has now awarded roughly 90% of total available New ERA funding to benefit rural electric cooperatives and their members, obligating approximately $9 billion of the program’s $9.7 billion budget authority. This represents more than $14.5 billion in grants and loans benefiting 35 states, with rural electric cooperatives committing to build or purchase more than 13 gigawatts of clean energy. These projects will create good-paying jobs, lower energy costs for rural communities, significantly reduce pollution, enhance the resiliency of the nation’s electric grid and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. For more information, see the New ERA fact sheet.
Additional details on all funding recipients and selectees are available on the New ERA website.
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, support 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.
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 www.usda.gov.
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