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Success Stories

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Solar panels being installed

Home repair loan helps family drastically cut electric bills

Keeping the electric on was crippling the Maggard family. Electric bills ranging from $300-$600 per month ate up the majority of the family’s fixed income. HOMES Inc., one of Rural Development’s strong housing partners in Eastern Kentucky, led a project combining funding… [Read More]
The Astoria Co-op installed rooftop solar panels to offset its energy use.

Rural Co-op Shines a Light on the Benefits of Solar Energy

Sustainability has been a fundamental tenant of the food cooperative movement since it began, and not only in terms of selling organic, sustainably-harvested food. Co-ops around the country are also turning to renewable energy. For the Astoria Co-op on the Oregon coast, that… [Read More]
Solar Array

Practicing Sustainability on the Eastern Edge of Glacier National Park

In 2017, after years of planning, Sanford and Claire Stone realized their dream and broke ground on Park Cabin Company in Babb, Mont., an unincorporated farming and ranching community in Glacier County. Their modern cabins are located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and… [Read More]

New Solar Array Helps Brewery Keep The Lights On

In rural Ord, Nebraska, Scratchtown Brewing Company, LLC is saving nearly 70 percent in energy costs thanks, in part, to a Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) renewable energy grant awarded in 2019 to purchase a new 24-kilowatt rooftop solar array. These renewable energy… [Read More]
Bruce Hanna, owner of Hampton Inn and Suites Roseburg, visits solar panels recently installed on hotel roof.

Rural Hotel Reaps Benefits of Going Green

Guests at most hotels never give a second thought to the roof of the building. But at the Hampton Inn and Suites in the rural town of Roseburg, owner Bruce Hanna is encouraging his guests to learn about the significant environmental impacts being generated out of sight on the… [Read More]
Solar Panel array

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]
Chocowinity Solar Project

RUS Electric Program Funds Largest USDA Solar Project to Date

RUS Electric Program has provided loan funds in the amount of $20 million for a renewable energy solar project, which is USDA’s largest solar project to date. The loan to Montgomery Solar, LLC, will help build a 20 megawatt Solar Farm located in Briscoe, NC. “It will occupy… [Read More]

Solar Energy Powers Year-Round Greens Production

Baby Greens, a farm located in Kingston, Rhode Island, is putting a convenient spin on the term “farm to table.” The chemical-free organic farm produces a mixture of salad greens that owner Jeffery Kamminga hand delivers to local homes and businesses year round. In August of… [Read More]
solar panels in Olympia

Solar Power Reduces Vender Energy Costs at Olympia Farmers Market

The Farmers Market in Washington State’s Capital City of Olympia attracts some 500,000 visitors during its nine-month run and generates about $5 million in sales. As the City of Olympia’s liaison to the Farmers Market, the Parks, Arts and Recreation Department was approached by… [Read More]
Solar Panel array

TPI Solar Projects

Today’s Power Inc. (TPI), is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arkansas Cooperative, Inc. (AECI).  AECI is a utility service company owned by all 17 electric cooperatives in Arkansas.  TPI was created to develop renewable energy.  TPI focuses on selling, installing, financing or… [Read More]