The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is accepting applications from rural small businesses and agricultural producers for guaranteed loans and grants to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Funding is available through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
REAP funding may be used by eligible agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and to make energy efficiency improvements. Eligible renewable energy systems include those that produce energy from wind, solar, renewable biomass (including anaerobic digesters), ocean, geothermal, hydrogen derived from renewable resources, and small hydroelectric systems.
Grant funding is very competitive in Oregon. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact our office to discuss their potential projects prior to applying. You can contact John Holman, Oregon Energy Coordinator, at (503) 414-3369 or john.holman@or.usda.gov. For additional information, also see page 60349 of the October 6 Federal Register.
REAP was created in the 2002 Farm Bill and reauthorized in the 2014 Farm Bill with guaranteed funding of no less than $50 million nationwide annually for the duration of the five-year bill. Through this program, USDA has supported nearly 11,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide since the start of the Obama Administration, providing more than $367 million in grants and $354 million in loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small business owners.