Interior Sec promotes ‘New ERA’ loans for Southern AZ electric coops

As part of the Empowering Rural America program, the Inflation Reduction Act is creating financial opportunities for Arizona’s rural communities, including ranchers and farmers, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced. This includes over $600 million in financing for renewable energy in rural Arizona, with an $83.5 million boost for Trico Electric Cooperative’s battery storage expansion on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation.

At the Investing in America town hall in Marana, Vilsack emphasized the New ERA program’s potential, which includes partially forgivable loans for rural electrical cooperatives. He talked about the Biden-Harris administration’s mission to extend clean energy, income generation opportunities, and more local product choices to agriculture and rural areas.

Sierra Southwest, another Southern Arizona rural electrical cooperative, has received $55.2 million to finance three battery energy storage system projects totaling 35 megawatts. Trico plans to cut its carbon emission in half by 2032, resulting in considerable financial savings for its members – over $16 million across the lives of these projects.

The administration’s initiatives include climate-smart agriculture and income-generating ventures such as local and regional food systems. This aids farmers transitioning into organic products, creates independent processing facilities for better prices for ranchers and farmers, and provides regional sources for government food purchases.

Last week, the administration announced $7.3 billion in financing for rural electrical projects across the country, including $485 million to Arizona Electric Power Cooperative for renewable power and energy storage.

Vilsack projected that the investment will generate and support 20,000 jobs, including 16,000 construction jobs and 4,500 permanent jobs. He emphasized that climate-smart agriculture would lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and that the transition into growing organic goods would have minimal financial risk with the investment’s funding.

In February 2024, the Department of Energy announced $366 million for clean energy initiatives for rural areas, including tribal lands. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association was allocated $45.2 million for starting rural electric cooperatives and placing solar infrastructures in rural areas, including Arivaca, Arizona.

The USDA claims that the IRA will “reduce energy costs for families and create thousands of good-paying jobs for people across rural America.” It marks the most significant investment in rural electrification since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. The New ERA program, as part of the IRA, is designed to help rural Americans transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy.