US President Joe Biden has announced the biggest government funding move for rural electrification since the 1930s. $7.3 billion will go to 16 electric cooperatives in 23 states to build and expand clean energy, Biden said Monday.
The funds, which will come from the Inflation Reduction Act and are being awarded by the Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America program, are meant to provide reliable electricity and create jobs in clean energy.
Biden introduced the investment initiative at a stop in Westby, Wisconsin, where he said about $580 million will go to the Dairyland Power Cooperative to develop solar and wind power as well as energy storage. Biden said the nonprofit co-ops were specifically targeted because, “They don’t have the same resources that private utility companies have to modernize their energy infrastructure. And for decades, they couldn’t access tax credits to make clean energy more…
