The $9.7 billion program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act and represents the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
Funds can be used to make energy efficiency improvements to eligible generation and transmission systems, to purchase, build, or deploy renewable energy, zero-emission systems, carbon capture storage systems, or to purchase renewable energy.
“This new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act shows that President Biden, and our entire administration, is serious about investing in rural America,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. “This announcement embodies what the Investing in America Agenda is all about—building a clean energy economy that works for everyone.”