The US Department for Agriculture (USDA) confirmed it will release obligated funding under key Biden administration programmes – but electric co-ops awarded cash will have to revise and re-submit their applications.
This applies to funding awarded under the Rural Energy For America Program (Reap), Empowering Rural America (New Era) and Powering Affordable Clean Energy (Pace) programmes, which were halted as part of a spending review in January.
New Era awarded 16 electric co-ops across the USA over US$7.3bn in grants and loans in support of clean energy in rural communities. Around 90% of total available New Era funding had been awarded by January 2025, obligating approximately $9bn of the programme’s $9.7bn budget authority. The USDA has not confirmed how much of this funding had already been received by the co-ops awarded.
Recipients will have 30 days to review and voluntarily revise their project plans to align with president Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order.
Specifically, the USDA is encouraging applicants to remove “harmful Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and far-left climate features from project proposals”. The USDA press release does not define what exactly is meant by “harmful DEIA and far-left climate features,” leaving room for uncertainty about how applicants should adjust their proposals.
Related: $4.4bn awarded to rural electric co-ops for clean energy
“This process gives rural electric providers and small businesses the opportunity to refocus their projects on expanding American energy production while eliminating Biden-era DEIA and climate mandates embedded in previous proposals,” read the USDA release. “USDA Rural Development is informing awardees individually about this opportunity. Respondents will be asked to answer several questions and provide a short narrative description of any proposed changes.”
“President Trump made tackling America’s energy emergency a top priority from day one, and this review allows rural energy providers and small businesses to realign their projects with that mission,” said secretary Rollins. “We’re ensuring these investments support US energy production while putting America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses first.”
USDA said the updated guidance reflects a shift away from the Green New Deal and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and toward “practical energy investments that prioritise the needs of rural communities”.
“The IRA was marketed as a cure-all but delivered more bureaucracy than benefits for rural families,” Rollins added. “This course correction puts those investments back to work to support president Trump’s vision for energy independence and sets rural America on a path to lasting prosperity.”
Electric co-ops can work with USDA field representatives to determine if any application changes are necessary.
While USDA’s press release does not explicitly highlight this aspect, renewable energy projects still qualify for funding under the USDA’s Reap criteria.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) welcomed the USDA’s announcement.
“These programmes provide important tools for co-ops to invest in their systems, unleash American energy and help meet skyrocketing energy needs,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “We thank secretary Rollins and the Trump administration for recognising the importance of these programmes and outlining next steps to release these funds.”
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NRECA and over 40 co-ops delivered nearly 50 letters to Rollins on 20 March in which they described the how energy projects that due to benefit from the $9.7bn New Era and $1bn Pace programmes. In these letters, the co-ops explained how the funding would help them “leverage diverse energy portfolios to reduce costs and meet the future energy demands of rural communities”. They added that the projects funded would also help address growing power supply needs in rural areas by creating a more reliable power grid.
Rollins was also a guest at NRECA’s PowerXchange and TechAdvantage event in Atlanta in March, where she pledged to move quickly on the programme reviews.
Nreca estimates that the co-op projects highlighted in the letters will unleash over 13 GW of energy in rural communities.
A Co-op News Freedom of Information Act request to find out how many co-ops have already received funding through the programmes is pending.
