Rural communities won billions of dollars to fund renewable energy

Last year, rural advocates won big in the Inflation Reduction Act by securing billions of dollars for rural communities to implement clean energy. Now, the USDA Rural Utilities Service is asking for input on how to set up and roll out these funding programs.

This input will be gathered through a series of 13 virtual roundtable discussions from Jan 17-26, with each one targeted at a specific region or group of stakeholders. The roundtables will gather feedback on Inflation Reduction Act Sections 22001 and 22004, which respectively provide $1 billion in forgivable loans for renewable energy projects in rural communities and $9.7 billion for electric co-ops to transition to clean energy.

Your input will help guide the Rural Utility Service on how to structure these programs and help RUS staff understand the priorities of community members, businesses, nonprofits, local governments and local utility representatives.

The Rural Power Coalition, which is a group of advocacy organizations that includes Appalachian Voices, drafted a list of potential talking points that speakers are welcome to highlight in their remarks during the roundtable sessions. Your voice could help RUS staff determine how to balance funding awards to small and large applicants, how to calculate emissions reductions and how to prioritize investments in disadvantaged rural communities.

These public roundtables could be the last (and best!) opportunity for rural communities to have their voices heard on how these major investments in clean energy transition will be implemented in rural communities across the country. Interested participants can register for any of these sessions to listen in, but should consider focusing on one or two roundtable sessions for providing input to allow for more voices to be heard.

Please see the RUS roundtable sessions listed below and sign up to attend via the webinar registration link.

Key resources:

• Inflation Reduction Act Rural Utilities Service Round Table Session Talking Points
• Inflation Reduction Act Sections 22001 and 22004 Fact Sheet

USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) IRA Roundtables

Highlighted Listening Sessions

• Environmental Stakeholders
  Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | 3:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Equity Stakeholders
  Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration

Regional Listening Sessions

Region 1: AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, KY, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV
• Electrical Generation & Transmission entities in RUS Region 1
  Tuesday, January 17, 2023 | 10:00 a.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Distribution Cooperatives in RUS Region 1
  Friday, January 20, 2023 | 11:00 a.m. EST
  Webinar Registration

Region 2: AK, AR, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, MI, MS, MO, NE, OK, TX

• Region 2 G&T Entities
  Friday, January 20, 2023 | 3:30 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Distribution Cooperatives in RUS Region 2
  Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 11:00 a.m. EST
  Webinar Registration

Region 3: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MN, MT, NV, NM, ND, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY and all Territories

• Region 3 G&T Entities
  Monday, January 23, 2023 | 3:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Region 3 Distribution Cooperatives
  Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration

Additional Sessions

• Rural Mayors
  Tuesday, January 17, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Labor Stakeholders
  Wednesday, January 18, 2023 | 10:00 a.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Clean Energy Stakeholders
  Thursday, January 19, 2023 | 3:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Engineers
  Monday, January 23, 2023 | 11:00 a.m. EST
  Webinar Registration
• Tribes, Tribal Utilities and Tribal Entities
  Tuesday, January 24, 2023 | 3:00 p.m. EST
  Webinar Registration