Browse All Stories

REAP Funding Helps Pennsylvania Business Go Solar
Three Rivers Farm helps bring fresh, locally grown produce to the marketplace in a sustainable way. Nathan Holmes is the owner and founder of the business and knew early on that he wanted to help local farmers while fueling economic development in his community.
As a Pittsburgh… [Read More]

How Rural Partnerships Helped Glasgow Community Open Its First Hospice Center
For the people of Glasgow, Kentucky, collaborations between the local electric cooperative, USDA Rural Development and other county entities have helped meet critical needs in the community. The first partnership between Farmers RECC, their power supplier, East Kentucky Power… [Read More]

Acquisition of Alliant Service Territories By 12 Rural Cooperatives
The RUS Electric Program provided financing to 10 of the 12 electric cooperatives involved in the acquisition of the Alliant service territory. The Electric Program provided a total of nearly $125 million. The total acquisition cost was about $127 million. In an unprecedented… [Read More]

East Kentucky Biomass Landfill Gas Project Expansion
In 2003, East Kentucky Power Cooperative became the first utility in Kentucky to generate its own renewable power when it began operating its first plant fueled by methane gas from landfills. Today, East Kentucky has five landfill gas plants. In 2015, RUS approved a loan which… [Read More]

Energy Efficiency Loan – Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
The Vermont legislature created an Energy Efficiency Utility named Efficiency Vermont as a full-service utility providing those services to all ratepayers. Under this structure, utility ratepayers can reduce their energy use by investing in energy improvements for their homes… [Read More]

Largest Transmission Line in North Dakota Serves 125,000 Consumers
Electricity provides us with many conveniences: flip a switch and the dark is light, hit a button and our television turns on, heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer, cook your food on the stove or store it in the refrigerator. Electricity is needed to run heavy… [Read More]

North Carolina Leads in Solar Projects
The RUS Electric Program fosters sustainable and vibrant rural communities by investing in expanding and modernizing the electric infrastructure and revitalizing local economic development by unleashing the benefits of renewable resources and energy efficiency. In FY 2015, the… [Read More]
RUS Electric Program Finances Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program Loans
The RUS Electric Program recently established a loan program to help electric cooperatives reach out to consumers and businesses. In a News Release dated October 23, 2014, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA had funded its first two loans under the new Energy… [Read More]

RUS Electric Program Finances Hydroelectric Power
Hydroelectric power RUS Electric Program approved $73 million in loan funds to finance ETEC’s R. C. Thomas Hydroelectric Station (R.C. Thomas Station), formally known as the Lake Livingston Hydro-electric Station, located near the City of Lake Livingston in Polk County, Texas.… [Read More]

RUS Electric Program Finances Woody Biomass Power
Biomass RUS Electric Program partnered with borrower, East Texas Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ETEC) in order to fund the recently completed Woodville Woody Biomass Project located near Woodville Texas. Woodville is a 49.9 MW carbon neutral renewable energy facility that will burn… [Read More]