Funding Supports Rural Electric Cooperatives, Agricultural Producers, Small Businesses, and Other Rural Entities in the Transition to Clean Energy
Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet celebrates nearly $3.4 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program, and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to help lower energy costs for rural Colorado. This funding helps electric cooperatives, farmers, and small businesses modernize rural energy infrastructure and invest in affordable and reliable clean energy projects. These investments include $3.2 billion from the New ERA program to modernize rural electric co-op energy infrastructure, $134 million from the PACE program to develop renewable energy production and energy storage projects, and over $28 million from REAP to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses purchase and install clean energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements. This funding was provided by the roughly $13 billion investment in rural clean energy Bennet helped secure in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the largest investment in rural electrification since the 1930s.
“Colorado’s rural electric co-ops are central to our state’s clean energy transition, and set the standard for the rest of the country,” said Bennet. “These investments will ensure our farmers, businesses, and rural communities continue to lead the way as we make good on our promises to cut pollution, spur growth for rural economies, and deliver reliable, affordable energy.”
New ERA is a $9.7 billion program created in the IRA that helps rural electric cooperatives transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy. PACE is a $1 billion program also created in the IRA that provides partially forgivable loans to help various entities invest in clean energy projects. REAP is a long-time program that received an additional $2 billion in funding through the IRA to provide financing to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to help install clean energy projects or make energy efficiency upgrades.
Bennet championed the roughly $13 billion in funding for rural electrification through USDA’s clean energy programs in the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition, he helped secure direct pay provisions in the IRA that allow rural electric cooperatives, public power companies, Tribes, and other entities without tax liability to access clean energy tax credits for the first time. In December 2022, Bennet pushed USDA to swiftly roll-out USDA rural clean energy funds from the IRA. In May 2023, Bennet joined USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Biden administration leaders at the White House to announce nearly $11 billion in rural clean energy grants and loan opportunities – including $9.7 billion through the New ERA program. In December 2023, he pushed USDA to ensure IRA clean energy funding for rural electric cooperatives reached Colorado. In October 2024, Bennet joined U.S. Representatives Yadira Caraveo and Brittany Pettersen, USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, and leaders from Colorado rural electricity cooperatives to welcome more than $2.5 billion in low-cost financing and grants from the New ERA program to support Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s clean energy transition.