The Agriculture Department is making investments worth $163 million in Rural Energy for America grants, loans and technical assistance for 338 projects to install solar panels, wind turbines or other energy sources, and make other kilowatt-reducing improvements for farms and small businesses.
The funding, announced by Secretary Tom Vilsack in a visit to a Maine farmers market on Friday, includes $35.43 million in grants and $127.5 million in loans and will go to projects in 39 states and Guam.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is partnering with people in rural communities across our nation to expand access to clean energy and save rural Americans money,” Vilsack said in a release. “We are hard at work, continuing what we've always done, supporting rural small businesses and farmers as they create jobs for their communities and drive economic prosperity.”
REAP assistance is available to rural small businesses and agricultural producers who get at least half their gross income from their operations. The program provides guaranteed loans of up to 75% of the cost of eligible projects, grants covering up to 25% of project costs, and combined grant and loan guarantee funding for up to 75% of project costs.
The largest grants each total $1 million and are going to five companies — Delmarva Corrugated Packaging, Ashley Solar, Luz Solar, Fifth Generation and Infinite Photon Energy — for solar projects, according to an analysis of the summary of recipients released by USDA. Ashley Solar also received a $1.7 million loan, while Luz Solar and Infinite Photon Energy received $2.75 million and $702,000 loans, respectively.
The largest loan — amounting to $46.75 million — went to Envoy Solar for a "utility-scale solar field near Mexico, Missouri, according to the analysis. Altona Solar received the second largest loan of $24.6 million for a solar field near Centralia, Missouri. Sustainable Biogas Energy Company received a $15.08 million loan for landfill gas-to-energy projects in Missouri.
Steve Davies contributed to this report.
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