Page 44 - Inflation-Reduction-Act-Guidebook

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Investing in Affordable and Reliable Clean Energy in

Rural America and on Tribal Lands

Nearly one in six Americans—approximately 55 million people—live in a remote or rural
community. Underserved rural and Tribal communities may pay more for energy as a percentage
of their household income and may not have the resources—individually or as community—to
invest in clean electricity systems. Additionally, many rural people receive their electricity from
nonprofit electric cooperatives that often rely on older coal-fired power plants and have taken on
significant debt.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides more than $12 billion to partner with rural and Tribal
communities to help them access more clean energy, make their energy systems more reliable
and resilient, and lower their electricity costs.

Funding Overview

The Inflation Reduction Act invests in rural and Tribal communities to expand access to
affordable clean energy that cuts pollution and reduces energy costs for families. Highlights
include:

• $9.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) electric infrastructure
loan and loan guarantee program for rural electric cooperatives. This funding will
support rural electric cooperatives that achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions by
making energy efficiency improvements to electric generation and transmission systems
or purchasing and deploying clean energy and carbon capture and storage systems.

• $1 billion for electric infrastructure loans for renewable energy in Rural America,
which will finance the construction of distribution, transmission, and generation facilities
for renewable electricity (from solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, or geothermal),
including system improvements and replacements to improve service in rural areas, as
well as demand side management, energy conservation, and renewable energy systems.

• More than $2 billion to expand USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program
(REAP). REAP provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural
producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or energy efficiency
improvements. The Inflation Reduction Act sets aside a portion of this funding for
underutilized renewable energy technologies.

• $150 million to the Tribal Electrification Program at the Department of the Interior.
This funding for Tribes and Tribal organizations will support the powering of
unelectrified Tribal homes with zero-emissions energy systems and retrofitting of already
electrified Tribal homes to zero-emissions systems.

See the table on the next page for a full list of the programs summarized in this chapter.

B U IL D IN G A C L E A N E N E R G Y E C O N O MY 39
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