Second Round of USDA New ERA Funding Showcases Electric Co-op Innovation

ARLINGTON, Va. - National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Jim Matheson today welcomed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's second round of awards for electric cooperatives under its Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program.

The roughly $1 billion in new funding was announced by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochitl Torres Small today in Colorado, along with $2.5 billion in grants and loans to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association under the first funding round, announced last month.

"Electric cooperatives excel at finding innovative ways to meet the needs of their members and power their communities, while strengthening America's electric grid," NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. "The New ERA program is a transformative opportunity for electric co-ops that allows them to tailor energy solutions to meet local needs.

"We are grateful to USDA and our allies in Congress for working with us to ensure the program supports a wide variety of co-op projects and delivers tangible benefits to the communities they serve."

NRECA was heavily involved in shaping the $9.7 billion New ERA Program, which was created specifically for electric cooperatives interested in purchasing or building new energy systems. The wide range of eligible projects - including carbon capture, renewable energy, storage, nuclear, and generation and transmission efficiency improvements - allows each cooperative to determine its path based on its unique circumstances.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing nearly 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation's landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $15 billion annually in their communities.

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