16 Rural Electric Cooperatives Will Leverage $7.3 Billion in Federal Funding to Deliver More Affordable, Reliable Electricity to Their Members – CleanTechnica

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Projects represent historic investments of $29 billion in clean energy that will benefit 1 in 5 rural Americans

The first wave of 16 rural electric cooperatives (co-ops) selected to receive the USDA’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) funding plan to leverage their awards to deploy carbon-free energy to help power 5 million homes in rural communities across 23 states, from California to Florida and Texas to Alaska. The majority of new electricity sources that will be funded are solar and wind power. These projects will decrease the cost to generate electricity for rural America, increase the resiliency for communities without sacrificing reliability, and lay the foundation for even more ambitious investments to come:

• USDA estimates these projects will avoid more than 43 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually (equivalent to the emissions from 10 million gas-powered cars each year).
• USDA estimates New ERA funding will spur the creation of an estimated 4,500 long-term jobs and 16,000 short-term jobs.
• As a result of these projects, renewable capacity supply for rural co-ops will increase by 35 percent from 26 to nearly 35 gigawatts, with wind and solar capacity rising by more than 60 percent from 14 gigawatts to 23 gigawatts.

A few examples of clean energy projects providing real savings to co-op members are Dairyland Power Co-operative, which is expecting rates 42 percent lower over ten years compared with business as usual; and Great River Energy, which expects cost reductions by $30 million annually. More member savings can be found below, compiled from the USDA’s announcement. 

“With the help of the New ERA program, rural cooperatives across the country are leading the way in demonstrating how to deploy clean energy to deliver affordable and reliable power for the benefit of their member-owners — and in ways that really work for the communities they serve. The diversity of investments and approaches taken by co-operatives is a testament to the power of the co-op model in fostering innovation tailored to local community needs,” said RMI electricity expert Uday Varadarajan.

 The clear winner in terms of technology was utility-scale solar, however an encouraging number of co-ops will also be investing in utility-scale battery storage systems, demand-side resources, and transmission improvements, which can support additional clean energy investments in the future. 

RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute) provided resources to applicants in the form of a series of webinars, bootcamps, and a financial modeling tool to support ambitious and efficient project designs by co-ops. We have also published a Community Benefits Catalog to support applicants for federal funding in the creation and execution of community benefit plans (CBPs), to ensure every project supports the long-term growth and financial welfare of local communities. 

RMI will be offering co-ops support in the development of their CBPs in the coming months. 

This work is made possible with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the McKnight Foundation. 

Co-ops Offered Awards

Co-op	States Served	Project Highlights (all emissions reductions are USDA estimates)
Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc.	Pennsylvania, New Jersey	Will enable Allegheny to meet 80% of its power requirements with carbon-free resources by 2026 Will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 100,000 tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 22,000 gas-powered cars every year)
Arizona G&T Cooperatives	Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada	Carbon emissions reductions estimated at more than 70% Renewable energy resources added include 730 megawatts of solar power, 2,910 megawatt hours of battery storage, and 70 megawatts of wind power Represents an investment of more than $3 billion to member-owned co-ops and public utilities Will create an estimated 630 short- and long-term jobs
Basin Electric Power Cooperative	Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming	Will help fund renewable energy projects totaling 1,400 megawatts across Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota Will reduce greenhouse gas pollution by an estimated 2.2 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 522,000 gas-powered cars each year)
Buckeye Rural Electric Co-op Inc.	Ohio	Will help fund 36 megawatts of renewable energy additions and 80 megawatts of battery storage Will reduce an estimated 1.9 million tons of carbon dioxide annually (equivalent to the emissions from 540,000 gas-powered cars each year)
CORE Electric Cooperative	Colorado	Will be used by CORE to procure renewable energy sources in the form of power purchase agreements across rural Colorado Will result in estimated carbon emissions reductions equal to taking 321,000 gas-powered cars off the road every year
Dairyland Power Cooperative	Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois	Will help fund 1,080 megawatts of renewable energy; four solar and four wind installations across rural Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Estimated savings to Dairyland member owners of 42 percent below what they would pay over 10 years without New ERA funding Estimated pollution reductions are 3 million tons annually, or 90 million tons over the life of the project (equivalent to the emissions from 729,000 gas-powered cars each year) Will increase the share of renewable energy in the co-op’s portfolio by 45 percent
East Kentucky Power Cooperative	Kentucky	Will help fund 757 megawatts of renewable energy additions for the co-op Will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 2.3 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 554,000 gas-powered cars each year)
Golden Valley Electric Association	Alaska	Will help fund 150 megawatts of wind power, battery storage, and transmission upgrades Will create an estimated 300 short- and long-term jobs Will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 460,000 tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 110,000 gas-powered cars each year)
Great River Energy	Minnesota	Will help fund 1,275 megawatts of renewable energy across Minnesota and North Dakota Projects include wind energy, distributed energy resources, and demand-side management resources that complement the co-op’s existing portfolio Will create an estimated 1,600 short- and long-term jobs Will reduce costs to member owners by an estimated $30 million on average annually Will reduce carbon emissions by more than 5.49 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 1.3 million gas-powered cars each year)
Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.	Illinois, Indiana	Will help fund the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Plant and procure 369 megawatts of carbon-free electricity from it Will help procure 250 megawatts of solar power across rural Michigan and Indiana Will create an estimated 800 short- and long-term jobs, including 235 union jobs at the nuclear facility Will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 4.1 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 966,000 gas-powered cars each year)
Minnkota Power Cooperative	Minnesota, North Dakota	Will help fund a carbon-capture and sequestration project as well as 370 megawatts of wind energy in North Dakota Will reduce an estimated 4.3 million tons of carbon emissions (equivalent to the emissions from 1 million gas-powered cars each year)
San Miguel Electric Cooperative Incorporated	Texas	Will help fund 600 megawatts of solar power and battery storage Will create an estimated 600 short- and long-term jobs Will reduce an estimated 1.8 million tons of carbon emissions annually (equivalent to the emissions from 446,000 gas-powered cars each year) Will reduce costs to members by $1.09 billion over the 30-year life of the project
Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc.	Florida	Will help fund procurement of 700 megawatts of electricity in the form of solar power and battery storage projects Will create an estimated 3,400 short- and long-term jobs Estimated carbon emissions reductions of 3.5 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 1 million gas-powered cars each year)
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.	Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming	Will help fund the addition of 1,480 megawatts of renewables in the form of solar, wind, and battery storage in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming Will create an estimated 2,200 short- and long-term jobs Will save members $422 million over 20 years Estimated carbon emissions reductions of nearly 5.8 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 1.4 million gas-powered cars each year)
United Power	Colorado	Will help fund the addition of 1,220 megawatts of renewable energy resources, including 160 megawatts of agrivoltaics Estimated carbon emissions reductions of more than 2.1 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 522,000 gas-powered cars each year)
Wolverine Power Cooperative	Michigan	Puts the co-op on track to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity before 2030 Will help fund the purchase of 435 megawatts of electricity from the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Will reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 2 million tons annually (equivalent to the emissions from 448,000 gas-powered cars each year)

Background on the New ERA Program and the Inflation Reduction Act

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been such a boon to co-ops and other nonprofit entities because federal support for electricity infrastructure reinvestment was structurally out of reach for most co-ops until now. Because they are nonprofits, co-ops were previously unable to take advantage of federal incentives — which were offered in the form of tax credits — meant to lower the cost to reinvest in energy systems. Through the IRA’s “direct pay” provision, co-ops can get cash payments from the US Treasury for the full value of federal clean energy tax credits. This allows 30 percent of co-op projects to be covered by the federal government, in addition to any funding awarded through the New ERA program. Similarly, there is an investment tax credit that co-ops can leverage to invest in reliability resources in their systems such as utility-scale batteries. Finally, there are additional incentives for projects that would directly reinvest in the communities that have traditionally relied on fossil fuels for their livelihood, further encouraging reinvestment in the places where their membership needs it most. 

This work was made possible thanks in part to the support of the George B. Storer Foundation, which has sponsored the work of organizations helping rural electric cooperatives transition to reliable and affordable clean energy for over a decade.

© 2024 RMI. Published with permission. Courtesy of RMI.