U.S. Senator Tina Smith, D-Minn., Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., are pressing the Trump Administration about the continued confusion surrounding key clean energy projects that help Minnesota farmers and small businesses lower their costs.
Rural Energy for America Program funding is set aside for agricultural producers and rural small businesses to install renewable, clean energy systems, or to make their operations more energy efficient. Example projects include installing energy efficient grain dryers, LED lighting and heat mats for livestock, solar panels or energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
The program was established through the 2002 Farm Bill, but the Inflation Reduction Act made a $2 billion investment in REAP, quadrupling its funding. Before the IRA passed, a farmer or small business owner could receive a grant that covered up to 25% of the cost of solar. Thanks to the IRA, a REAP solar grant now covers as much as 50%.
As of February 2024, Minnesota had 495 projects that have been funded through REAP, which was the most in the country.
The freezing of federal funding has hurt many farmers and small business owners’ bottom lines, according to the lawmakers, especially those that put up their own money expecting to be reimbursed by the federal government.
“We write to express our deep concern over reports that hundreds of contracted awards under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) remain frozen and inaccessible to Minnesota farmers and rural small businesses,” wrote the lawmakers. “This back and forth from the department on a critical program has created a lot of uncertainty for rural communities in Minnesota.”
At a USDA event held at a family-owned grocery store in St. Charles, Minnesota, in February 2024, to publicize the success of REAP funding in the state, Mark and Karen Goldberg of Stewartville shared how they received a grant of nearly $78,000 to install a wind turbine on their farm, which will save them $11,520 per year, according to estimates. The turbine replaced over 103,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year.
"We farm about 1,000 acres and are a fourth generation farm," Karen Goldberg said. "We have a fifth generation on the way, up and coming, so we're trying to preserve everything to be able to pass it on down to our kids."
Karen Goldberg said they found out about the REAP funding at a farm show and thought they'd check it out.
"They increased the funding, so it definitely made it a viable option for us to go ahead and look at doing the wind turbines," she said. "The wind turbine will basically produce the energy to pay for the electricity that we use on the farm between both homes, and then we'll be able to sell back on the grid, to help our neighbors with everyone's electricity needs."
In March, the USDA announced the release of previously frozen REAP funding but much of the REAP funding is still under review with grants still being frozen.
“Since its inception in the bipartisan Farm Bill in 2008, REAP has provided grants and loans that have helped more than 21,000 farms and rural businesses nationwide access affordable, renewable energy and energy efficiency systems,” the lawmakers continued. “Farmers have invested thousands of their own dollars into these projects because they are counting on the Federal government to uphold its commitments. At a time when the cost of operations is high and farmers’ access to markets is uncertain, supporting American farmers is critical.”
The full text of the letter is available here.