Ryan Taylor, USDA Rural Development state director, today announced that $57 million will be invested in electrical infrastructure improvements. The funding will help electrical providers increase capacity to meet North Dakota’s demand for services.
“Access to electricity is essential to our everyday lives and the economic well-being of our rural communities,” said Taylor. “This investment will help our electric cooperatives increase their output while modernizing operations to better serve customers."
The financing is being provided through USDA Rural Development’s Electric Program. The funding announced today also includes more than $2.8 million for smart grid technology, which increases the reliability of electric power by helping utilities better manage the electric grid to improve operational efficiencies. It includes metering, substation automation, computer applications, two-way communications, geospatial information systems and other improvements.
The following two North Dakota electric cooperatives will receive loans to expand, upgrade and make efficiency improvements to deliver dependable and affordable electricity.
North Central Electric Cooperative (Bottineau) – $30,000,000 loan. Financing will be used to build or upgrade 303 miles of line, and make other system improvements. The loan amount includes $828,000 for smart grid projects.
Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative (Columbus) – $27,000,000 loan. Financing will be used to build or upgrade 266 miles of line, and make other system improvements. The loan amount includes $2 million for smart grid projects.
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 2009, USDA has invested more than $2.5 billion in North Dakota electric infrastructure projects. Further information on these and other rural programs is available by visiting USDA's web site at http://www.rd.usda.gov/nd.