Lindsay Mader, lindsay.mader@sierraclub.org
Christine, Tex. – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is preparing to release more than $7.3 billion for 16 rural electric cooperatives selected as finalists to invest in renewable energy, storage, transmission, and emissions reductions across the United States. In Texas, the San Miguel Electric Cooperative (SMEC) in Atascosa County has been selected as a finalist for its proposal to build a large solar energy and battery storage project. This funding will allow SMEC, which helps power about 340,000 customers in 47 South Texas counties, to improve affordability and reliability for co-op members. The transition away from expensive and polluting coal will also improve air and water quality for nearby rural communities.
SMEC owns and operates the San Miguel lignite power plant as well as the lignite mine that supplies the plant. It sells that electricity to the South Texas Electric Cooperative, which provides power to nine smaller member co-ops. SMEC plans to use its funding, which comes through USDA’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, to build 600 megawatts of solar energy and a battery storage system. According to the USDA, “these projects are estimated to provide 600 short- and long-term jobs and save co-op members $1.09 billion over the 30-year life of the project. All this will be accomplished while reducing climate pollution by over 1.8 million tons annually.”
San Miguel’s coal plant has a maximum output of 410 MW, so this project will add considerable capacity to the grid and may enable SMEC to replace its expensive coal plant. When selecting funding recipients, USDA considered reductions in climate-warming emissions to be the most important component of an application.
The USDA grant and a recent SMEC announcement that it is partnering on the state’s first geothermal pilot project signal a big shift for the co-op. The San Miguel mine and power plant have been met with community opposition due to its air and water pollution. The coal plant is the fourth largest mercury polluter of all power plants in Texas and one of the top in the United States. San Miguel has two legacy coal ash ponds that sit below the water table and contribute to some of the most contaminated groundwater in the country, including cobalt that is 488 times what is considered a safe level. It is also involved in water pollution concerns and land degradation. Under the New ERA program, SMEC will have one year to develop its community benefits plan through engaging with community stakeholders.
STATEMENTS
“This is an exciting day for South Texas: San Miguel Electric Cooperative has shown that it is ready to turn the page on coal and welcome new energy resources that will lower costs for its customers and stabilize the grid,” said James Perkins, campaign organizer for Sierra Club. “San Miguel has recognized the immense benefits of moving toward solar and battery storage, and planning this now ensures that electricity will not be lost from the grid. This is a prime example of a smart energy transition that works for the people and carves out an important role for rural Texas to play in powering our future. We urge SMEC to continue this solid decision-making and follow through with closing its coal plant and mine and adequately remediating the land so that South Texans will also enjoy the clean air and water they deserve.”
“We’re excited to hear about USDA’s grant to San Miguel to help it transition away from its lignite plant and mine,” said McMullen County Judge James Teal. “USDA has been a valued partner in our farming and ranching community for many years. This particular project gives us hope that SMEC is one step closer to shutting down its lignite operations that have concerned many of our residents for years due to ruining landowners’ ranchland, engaging in unsafe practices that threaten our water supply, and polluting our air with mercury and other chemicals. That’s exactly why we wish this grant announcement had included a commitment to early closure. We urge SMEC and STEC to work with our rural community to ensure that San Miguel is on the path to close by the end of 2027 and clean up the right way.”
“As a customer of Magic Valley Electric Coop, which buys power through South Texas Electric Coop’s deal with San Miguel, it’s so important that my electricity is affordable and reliable,” said Ramona Casas, a resident of Alamo, Texas. “We as a community also want our energy to come from sources that do not pollute our neighbors’ land and water. The plan to build clean energy should mean that my bills don’t shoot up like they have in recent years due to gas prices and that my power is less likely to fail during winter storms. And the project should bring 600 jobs to our low-income region. It’s clear that STEC should help pave the way to embrace this clean energy future, make sure that South Texas isn’t left out of this market shift, and ensure that we no longer contribute to this harmful coal plant.”
BACKGROUND
The $9.7 billion USDA program, which is expected to announce additional grant recipients in the future, represents the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936. Last September, USDA announced that it had received applications from 157 rural cooperatives across 40 states and Puerto Rico. Those applications totaled more than $93 billion across 750 clean energy projects – showing the immense need and desire for building clean energy in rural America.
The projects that will be funded by this program will drive an estimated $29 billion in new clean energy investments across 23 states and are expected to create 4,500 permanent new jobs and 16,000 temporary jobs. The first tranche of projects will result in 10 gigawatts of grid-resilient clean energy—enough to power 5 million rural households—including an estimated 3,700 MW of wind and 4,700 MW of solar. A list of awarded and selected recipients can be found here.
Today’s announcements do not include the full scope of programmatic work being conducted by the cooperatives, some of which are expected to replace high emissions facilities, such as aging coal plants.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.