White House Announces $7.3 Billion in New ERA Funding

President Biden traveled to Vernon Electric Cooperative, Westby, WI, today to announce $7.3 billion in funding awards to 16 electric cooperatives through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. According to the White House, the funding will benefit residents in 23 states (see map below) by allowing co-ops to finance clean energy projects.

Biden, standing in front of an array of photovoltaic cells, praised cooperatives for providing power to rural communities dating back to the New Deal.

“Today’s historic announcement of $7 .3 billion for rural electric co-ops … means 20 ,000 jobs; good paying, high-quality jobs, including union jobs, so rural America is empowered to lead our clean energy future,” he said. “And guess what? It’s also good for the environment as well … We’re going to reduce by 43 million tons greenhouse gas pollution every single year as a consequence of these investments.”

The first New ERA award of $573 million will go to G&T cooperative Dairyland Power Cooperative in nearby La Crosse, WI, which hosted the Westby event. According to USDA, Dairyland Power intends to apply the funding toward an ongoing initiative “to develop projects totaling 1,080 megawatts, including eight power purchase agreements, four solar installations and four wind power installations across Dairyland’s service territory.”

“The New ERA program showcases what is possible when the government prioritizes voluntary, flexible decision-making and allows electric co-ops to take a tailored approach to respond to local needs,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said in reaction to Biden’s announcement.

Matheson noted that NRECA’s played a large part in crafting New ERA. “The program is a testament to the collaborative efforts of NRECA and electric co-ops to proactively shape public policy in a way that works best for our community. We are grateful to our allies in Congress and USDA for working with us to ensure the program supports a wide variety of co-op projects and delivers tangible benefits to the communities they serve,” he said. The initial $7.3 billion in awards is the first round of New ERA funding, with additional rounds expected from the total $9.7 billion allocation Congress passed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.