Three rural Colorado power cooperatives make the cut for part of $7.3 billion in USDA grants

Three of Colorado’s rural cooperative power providers made the cut for a United States Department of Agriculture program that will award $7.3 billion in funding to rural power providers across the nation.

President Joe Biden and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsac announced the program Thursday.

The investments in rural electrification in the Inflation Reduction Act are the largest since the 1936 Rural Electrification Act, according to the USDA, which were part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal that brought electricity to the nation’s rural areas.

The USDA said the 16 electric cooperatives selected from across the nation will leverage more than $29 billion in private investments to build more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy for rural communities.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we are supporting a more prosperous future for rural communities by speeding up the transition to clean energy while at the same time keeping monthly bills low and investing in the American workforce with new jobs and apprenticeships,” said Secretary Vilsack in a news release. “One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean energy investments.”

Colorado-based companies Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, CORE Electric Cooperative, and United Power projects were selected to receive funds from the Empowering Rural America program that is part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Our application to USDA included a request for $679 million in budget authority towards 18 different projects,” Lee Boughey, vice president of communications for Tri-State, told The Denver Gazette. “We have passed the competitive part of the USDA's program and now we're in the underwriting phase.

“We're optimistic that that amount could be awarded, but we'll have to wait just a little bit longer until the actual award is made.”

The Tri-State projects include support for the cost of retiring coal plants early, solar projects, and renewable energy or energy storage projects.

Tri-State is a 41-member, not-for-profit power supply cooperative serving more than a million customers in four states.

According to the Colorado Energy Office, United Power’s award will support 760 MW of clean power, including the purchase of 300 MW of solar, hydropower, and wind energy and the addition of 460 MW of solar generation from member projects.

“The Empowering Rural America New ERA investment will have an immediate positive impact on all United Power members who have experienced increased costs for food, property taxes, insurance, and all utilities over the past few years,” said United Power President and CEO Mark A. Gabriel in a USDA release.

United Power serves more than 106,000 customers across 17 Colorado communities in six counties.

The CEO said CORE Electric Cooperative will receive money to support 550 MW of new wind and solar energy resources and 100 MW of energy storage through power purchase agreements.

“This Empowering Rural America New ERA investment will be used for CORE Electric Cooperative to procure approximately 550 megawatts of new wind and solar renewable energy. It will also allow CORE to invest in energy reliability through roughly 100 megawatts of energy storage,” said CORE Electric Cooperative CEO Pam Feuerstein in a USDA release.

CORE provides power to more than 375,000 customers along the Front Range and is the largest electric distribution cooperative in Colorado.