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Powering Affordable Clean Energy Program: Project Announcements
The Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which represents the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936. With $1 billion in funding, PACE helps make clean, affordable, and reliable energy accessible to the people of rural America.
USDA is moving forward to support the following clean energy investments to reduce pollution and strengthen rural America’s power grid. These investments deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration promise to strengthen America’s energy security by investing to deploy renewable energy technologies across the nation. Together, these projects will reduce electricity costs for hardworking families and small business owners and prevent power outages in the face of extreme weather exacerbated by the climate crisis.
Project Announcements
The PACE project investments will strengthen the nation’s energy independence, provide good-paying jobs that benefit everyone, reduce pollution, and enhance the resiliency of our nation’s electric grid. Below are the current investments that have been announced.
| Project State | Borrower Name | Loan Amount | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| AK | Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative, Inc. | $100,000,000 | Alaska: Alaska Electric and Energy Cooperative Inc. received a $100 million partially forgivable loan to install a 45-megawatt four-hour battery energy storage system adjacent to its Soldotna Substation. The cooperative is a wholly owned subsidiary of Homer Electric Association Inc., a distribution electric utility serving over 24,330 members across more than 3,000 square miles in Alaska’s western and southern Kenai Peninsula. |
| AK | Golden Valley Electric Association, Inc. | $100,000,000 | Alaska: Golden Valley Electric Association, Inc. received a $100 million partially forgivable loan to build a 46-megawatt battery energy storage system. This energy storage is essential to provide rural Alaskans with reliable clean energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. It is a critical part of the people of Alaska’s efforts to create a transformative clean energy economy that protects their natural environment while providing reliable, affordable energy to their communities. |
| AZ | Sierra Southwest Electric Cooperative | $55,237,263 | Arizona: Sierra Southwest Cooperative Services Inc. is expected to receive approximately a $55.2 million partially forgivable loan to finance three battery energy storage system projects totaling 35 megawatts and lasting for four hours in duration. |
| AZ | Trico Electric Cooperative | $83,507,900 | Arizona: Trico Electric Cooperative Inc. received $83.5 million a partially forgivable loan to expand its battery energy storage system capacity and provide reliable electricity to the growing number of people living in the surrounding areas of Tucson and the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. This funding will help the cooperative reach its goal to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2032. |
| CO | Delta-Montrose Electric Association | $72,162,000 | Colorado: Delta-Montrose Electric Association is expected to receive a $72 million partially forgivable loan to finance a grid-connected solar photovoltaic system. This project will provide rural communities in western Colorado with affordable and reliable clean power. |
| CO | La Plata Electric Association | $13,416,000 | Colorado: La Plata Electric Association received a $13.4 million a partially forgivable loan to expand clean energy and resilient solutions. The loan will support an $18 million, five-megawatt solar project paired with a battery storage component. The solar array will be able to power up to 1,800 homes with locally-generated renewable energy. A 5 megawatt battery will be installed next to the solar array to charge up using the energy generated from the solar panels. |
| CO | Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, Inc. | $9,000,000 | Colorado: Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association is expected to receive a $9 million partially forgivable loan to build two community solar and battery energy storage projects that will benefit the people of Weld County. |
| CO | SE Municipal Colorado, LLC | $12,166,225 | Colorado: SE Municipal Colorado, LLC received $12 million to finance the construction of four solar photovoltaic generation facility projects totaling 7.8 megawatts of renewable energy across multiple rural portions of Colorado. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 1,748 households. |
| HI | Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | $23,400,000 | Hawaii: Kauai Island Utility Cooperative received a $24.4 million partially forgivable loan to expand solar energy production and to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels during peak evening hours in Anahola, Koloa and Port Allen. This project will create jobs for people in the community, strengthen the local electric grid, increase resilience in the face of climate change, and further the cooperative’s goal of providing 100% renewable energy by 2033. |
| HI | Kauai Island Utility Cooperative | $975,000 | |
| IA | SE Municipal Iowa, LLC | $6,911,250 | Iowa: SE Municipal Iowa, LLC received nearly $7 million to finance the construction of three ground-mounted, single axis tracking solar photovoltaic facilities and power purchase agreements totaling 7.6 megawatts of renewable energy across three rural cities in Iowa. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 1,233 households annually. |
| IA, MN, WI | Stag Moose Solar, LLC | $75,995,000 | Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin: Stag Moose Solar, LLC received almost $76 million to finance 22 ground mount solar facility projects totaling 62.75 megawatts of renewable energy across counties located in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 16,000 households annually. |
| KS | KPP Energy | $35,000,000 | Kansas: KPP Energy received $35 million to finance the construction of seven solar facilities, with a total of 18.5 megawatts of renewable energy across rural parts of Kansas. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 3,700 households annually. |
| KY | Bluestem Energy Solutions LLC (TEC1) | $6,607,616 | Kentucky: Bluestem Energy Solutions TEC1 LLC is expected to receive a ~$6.6 million partially forgivable loan to build a solar power facility in Allen County that will produce 5 megawatts of renewable energy, enough to power more than 900 homes each year. |
| KY | Lock 9 Hydro Partners | $19,297,000 | Kentucky: Lock 9 Hydro Partners LLC is expected to receive ~$19.3 million a partially forgivable loan to build a run-of-river hydroelectric plant on the Kentucky River generating 3 megawatts of renewable energy for Jessamine County. The project is expected to power 1,600 homes each year. |
| KY | Lock 10 Hydro Partners, LLC | $18,859,000 | Kentucky: Lock 10 Hydro Partners LLC is expected to receive a ~$18.9 million partially forgivable loan to build a run-of-river hydroelectric plant on the Kentucky River generating 3 megawatts of renewable energy for Madison County. The project is expected to provide enough electricity to power 1,600 homes each year. |
| KY | Lock 11 Hydro Partners, LLC | $16,584,000 | Kentucky: Lock 11 Hydro Partners LLC is expected to receive approximately $16.6 million a partially forgivable loan to build a new 3-megawatt run-of-river hydroelectric plant at Lock and Dam 11 on the Kentucky River. This project will use modern run-of-river energy practices that limit the environmental impact of hydropower and ensure affordable, clean energy for rural Kentuckians. |
| KY | Lock 13 Hydro Partners, LLC | $17,687,000 | Kentucky: Lock 13 Hydro Partners LLC received a ~$17.7 million partially forgivable loan investment to build a run-of-river hydroelectric plant on the Kentucky River generating 3 megawatts of renewable energy for Lee County, which is also an RPN community. The project is expected to power 1,600 homes each year. |
| NE | Bluestem Energy Solutions LLC (MMPS1) | $3,612,000 | Nebraska: Bluestem Energy Solutions LLC is expected to receive a ~$3.6 million partially forgivable loan to build a 2-megawatt community solar facility with the City of Madison electric utility. |
| NE | Midwest Electric Coop Corp. | $16,900,000 | Nebraska: Midwest Electric Cooperative Corp received a $17 million partially forgivable loan to finance solar renewable energy resource facilities and energy storage systems for communities in Wallace, Grant, Paxton and Lakeview. |
| NE | SE Municipal Solar LLC | $29,422,525 | Nebraska: SE Municipal Solar is expected to receive a $30 million partially forgivable loan to construct eight solar photovoltaic generation facilities totaling 18.72 megawatts to serve multiple areas in Nebraska. It will produce enough electricity to power 1,746 residential homes. |
| NE | Village of Emerson | $1,012,500 | Nebraska: The Village of Emerson in Nebraska is expected to receive a $1 million partially forgivable loan to build a solar facility to make efficiency improvements to its energy distribution system. |
| NV | Harney Electric Cooperative | $13,325,000 | Nevada: Harney Electric Cooperative received more than $13 million to finance a 5-megawatt solar facility in rural Nevada. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 530 households annually. The proposed project serves populations in Substantially Underserved Trust Areas. Further, the Nevada service area for the McDermitt substation includes Tribal populations equal to 60.7% of the total Nevada members served by this project. |
| NV | Valley Electric Association | $80,283,188 | Nevada: Valley Electric Association is expected to receive a $80.3 million partially forgivable loan to install a 37-megawatt solar power generation and storage system to serve Pahrump and the Fish Lake Valley region. It will produce enough electricity to power 3,500 homes. Valley Electric serves communities participating in the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a USDA-led collaboration between federal, state and local partners to help underserved communities access federal funding. |
| TN | Bluestem Energy Solutions LLC Lawrenceburg Solar ( | $8,240,159 | Tennessee: Lawrenceburg Solar received more than $8 million to finance the construction of an alternating current solar photovoltaic facility totaling 6.1 megawatts of renewable energy in rural portions of South Tennessee. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to power approximately 1,200 households annually and generate approximately 3% of the LUS's total electric energy needs. |
| TX | Bluestem Energy Solutions LLC (ETEC Solar and Battery) |
$81,540,445
| Texas: ETEC Solar and Battery received nearly $82 million to finance 25-megawatts of renewable energy solar facilities and 120-megawatt hours of battery energy storage system facilities in nine East Texas rural counties, including Wood, Cherokee, Anderson, San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Houston, Smith, and Shelby. The projects will power the equivalent of approximately 6,000 Texas households annually through the renewable energy production from these facilities. |
| WI | Dairyland Power Cooperative | $15,600,000
| Wisconsin: Dairyland Power Cooperative received $15.6 million to finance two sites with 2 megawatts of solar photovoltaic connected to a 4 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system in Western Wisconsin. This will provide enough locally generated electricity to annually power up to 1,000 homes. |
| Total | $916,741,071 |
These projects also advance the Biden-Harris Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of Federal climate, clean energy, and other covered investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution