NEWS RELEASE

USDA Announces Another Round of Historic Investments to Increase Access to Clean, Affordable Energy Across the Country

Investments in Rural Electric Cooperatives Will Lower Costs and Support Jobs in Rural Communities

RAMSEY, Minn., Dec. 19, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced awards for more than $4.37 billion in clean energy investments through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program. Rural electric cooperatives will use the funding to support thousands of jobs, lower electricity costs for businesses and families and reduce climate pollution by millions of tons each year.

New ERA was made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936. New ERA program funding is available to member-owned rural electric cooperatives, which have been the backbone of America’s rural power delivery for nearly a century.

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