Buckets of federal funds for electric coops

Inflation Reduction Act delivers nearly $10 billion for allocation to rural electric cooperative and power providers

To explain how the Inflation Reduction Act has changed the financial landscape for electrical cooperatives, Andrew Berke used the example of a $10 million solar project when he spoke at the annual meeting of Tri-State Generation and Transmission.

Berke is administrator of the Rural Utility Service, which came into existence in 1936 as the Rural Electrification Administration. He told his listeners that they had likely heard the IRA described as the largest investment in clean energy ever. “That’s certainly true. What you don’t always hear them say is that it is the largest investment in rural electrification since the 1930s.”

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The law, partly due to lobbying by Tri-State, has $9.7 billion specifically for electrical cooperatives. But the agency has a mission to pull the trigger on $25 billion to $30 billion of work before a 2031 deadline. “We have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by also raising the amount of energy we produce through clean, renewable and non-carbon assets. And we are investing in rural America.”

Now about that $10 million solar project. A distribution cooperative can get up to a 25% grant from the RUS. Then there’s the equivalent of a tax break in terms of direct tax payment from the Department of Treasury that can be 30% —or more.

“All of a sudden, that $10 million solar array costs you $4.5 million,” he said.

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