U.S. Secretary of Agriculture hosts town hall in Marana

On Thursday, September 12 United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack made a visit to Trico Electric Cooperative in Marana for a town hall centered around investments in rural communities.

One of the investments that could come to that area is a grant through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program . The Arizona Electric Power Cooperative , which Trico Electric is a member of, applied for $485 million dollars in federal grant money.

“This is an opportunity for them to use resources… to convert and transition to a clean economy to a clean energy economy,” Secretary Vilsack said.

Trico Electric CEO, Brian Heithoff explained the impact this grant could have.

“In Trico’s case, New ERA funding will support our goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2032 and these projects will also result in substantial financial savings to our membership - over $60 million across the life of these projects just for Trico members alone,” Heithoff said in his remarks during the round table.

Secretary Vilsack said these lower costs will help people like farmers. He said, “The rural electric cooperative grants that have been announced today for Arizona are ways in which we can reduce the cost of electricity and power for small businesses, for farmers, for homeowners, for manufacturing facilities.”

Marana Mayor Ed Honea said while the town has urbanized, farming is still in the town’s roots.

“Farming is still around us,” Honea said. “Cotton and maize and corn and wheat and alfalfa and all these products are grown in Marana.”

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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist . She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram , Twitter or Facebook .