Items Tagged with 'Rural Energy for America Program'

USDA paused new REAP grant awards earlier this year so it could implement new regulations under an executive order tasking agencies with reducing subsidies for wind, solar and other “green” energy sources. But the pause also could cause applicants already working on projects to lose their awards.

The Agriculture Department will pause grant awards for the Rural Energy for America program until it finishes updating program regulations to meet an executive order calling for less federal wind and solar funding.

The Trump administration’s removal of federal support for solar power, along with eliminating tax credits over the next three years, seems likely to cancel some projects, but industry experts insist that demand growth is too strong to stop solar entirely.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Monday that the department would be cutting off subsidies for solar power projects on U.S. farmland. A USDA memo obtained by Agri-Pulse says the department is ending or restricting loans for wind and solar projects under two Rural Development programs. 

The Agriculture Department is lifting a freeze on clean energy funding programs but giving applicants 30 days to modify their proposals to remove unspecified references to DEI and “climate mandates.” A notice obtained by Agri-Pulse laid out options for revising projects.

Farmers and rural businesses that signed contracts with the Agriculture Department to install renewable energy sources or energy-efficiency technology on their operations in exchange for federal grant funding are seeing funding held up amid a federal funding freeze.

Democrats on the House and Senate Agriculture committees are proposing $10 billion in market relief for farmers as the parties spar over an extension of the 2018 farm bill, Agri-Pulse has learned. House GOP leaders, however, have so far objected to the method used to cover the cost of the farm payments. 

Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee are offering to advance some Democratic policy priorities on issues ranging from nutrition assistance to rural community aid in a bid to win bipartisan support for a new farm bill.

The Agriculture Department on Thursday said it will be distributing $124 million through two programs aimed at expanding renewable energy and fertilizer production.