The Susquehanna Steam Electric Station is part of the Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. (Photo via U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
A Pennsylvania utility will be among 16 rural electric power cooperatives to receive part of $7.3 billion in federal funding for clean energy projects President Joe Biden will announce Thursday in Wisconsin.
Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. , which operates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, will receive an undisclosed amount of funding to allow it to meet over 80% of its power requirements from carbon-free resources by 2026 and reduce pollution and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 100,000 tons annually, according to the White House.
The funds come from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included $13 billion in rural electrification programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
That represents “the largest investment in rural electrification since 1936 and the New Deal,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters Wednesday ahead of the announcement.
The funds are part of the Empowering Rural America program, or “New ERA” offering ederal grants and loans are projected to seed another $29 billion in private investment to produce more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy for rural communities — enough to power about 4 million homes according to one federal estimate.
“We’re excited to be considered a selectee for New ERA funding,” Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association and Allegheny Electric Cooperative President and CEO Steve Brame said in a statement. “As the generation provider for 14 electric distribution cooperatives, Allegheny’s job is to deliver a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of energy to our member systems and the rural communities they serve. Through the support of New ERA funding, our proposed project has the benefit of adding zero-emissions resources to our generation portfolio – while keeping energy costs down for these cooperative communities.”
The 16 power co-ops receiving the federal funding serve residents in 23 states. The initiative will “bring the promise of clean energy and lower costs to approximately 5 million rural households, representing 20% of the nation’s entire rural households, as well as farms and businesses that are located in those 23 states,” Vilsack said.
Collectively the 16 co-ops benefiting from the program are projected to add 4,500 jobs in addition to 16,000 construction jobs created for the work, according to the USDA. The projects funded through the Inflation Reduction Act must be fully completed by Sept. 30, 2031, administration officials said.