Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that rural electric cooperative utilities will receive funding that will benefit more than 19,000 rural consumers in 14 states. This funding will be for smart grid technologies and improvements to generation and transmission facilities.
"Rural electric cooperatives provide direct jobs and support economic growth in our rural communities," Vilsack said in a press release. "By financing electrical system improvements USDA and the Obama Administration helps ensure sustainable growth and business job creation. Investments in smart grid technologies will give rural electric utilities and their consumers one more tool to better manage use of electricity, increase reliability and lower costs."
The $900 million in loans announced today are provided by USDA Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to help electric utilities upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural American electric infrastructure. RUS funding will help build nearly 1,500 miles of line and improve more than 1,700 miles of existing line in rural areas. More than $19 million will finance smart grid technologies.
Rural utilities selected to receive USDA funding include ones in Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
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Posted 8/29/2011
