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The 16 funded projects will reduce energy costs and increase
reliability for rural Americans, who tend to pay more for
energy, the White House said.
The first project will allocate nearly $573 million to Dairyland
Power Cooperative in La Crosse, Wisconsin, for four solar
installations and four wind power installations in Wisconsin,
Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois.
"One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean
energy investments, thanks to partnerships with rural electric
cooperatives like Dairyland. Put simply, this is rural power,
for rural America," said agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack in a
statement.
The projects, funded by the IRA's Empowering Rural America (New
ERA) program, will prevent more than 43 million tons of
greenhouse gas pollution annually and support more than 4,500
permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs, the White House
said.
Rural electric cooperatives serve 42 million people, according
to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
The administration in August said it was investing $2.2 billion
in overhauling the nation's power grid, which has been pressured
by extreme weather events even as data centers demand more
power.
Biden was set to announce the funding in Westby, Wisconsin, on
Thursday alongside Vilsack.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by David Gregorio)
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