A wind turbine stands tall over farmland near Middleton, Wisconsin.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden will visit Wisconsin to announce a $7.3 billion federal investment in clean energy for rural communities nationwide.
The Biden administration is describing this as the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s.
The funds will be distributed to 16 electric cooperatives serving millions of customers in 23 states. They will be used to build and purchase over 10 gigawatts of wind, solar, nuclear, and hydropower energy.
A senior administration official told reporters on Wednesday that the “impact of this investment cannot be overstated.” The funds are expected to create over 20,000 jobs, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 43.7 million metric tons annually (equivalent to removing 10 million gas-powered vehicles), and cut electricity costs for about 20% of rural households, or around 5 million people.
John Podesta, Biden’s top climate adviser, stated, Today’s awards will bring clean, affordable, reliable power to rural Americans all across our nation.
Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce the awards, given through the USDA’s Empowering Rural America program and funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, at an event in Westby, Wisconsin. The administration anticipates that these investments will attract an additional $29 billion in private-sector funding.
In Wisconsin, a crucial state for the 2024 presidential election, Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse will use its nearly $573 million award to secure over a gigawatt of power from four solar and four wind projects. The co-op, which serves about 700,000 customers in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota, expects to lower its electricity rates by 42% over the next decade and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 3 million tons over the projects’ lifetimes.
Dairyland Power President and CEO Brent Ridge commented that the funding offers a tremendous opportunity to continue making vital investments in essential clean energy resources.
As Biden advances his clean energy initiatives from the IRA, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is campaigning to end what he calls Biden’s war on energy. Trump promises to increase oil and gas drilling and dismantle Biden’s climate policies and clean energy investments.
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