Renner Barsella, renner.barsella@sierraclub.org
FLORIDA – President Joe Biden announced today that Seminole Electric Cooperative’s application to construct and procure a combination of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage across rural portions of Florida was chosen as a finalist in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. The New ERA program, authorized through the Inflation Reduction Act, is a competitive program to provide $9.7 billion in grants and loans to rural electric cooperatives. Today’s announcement identified 16 cooperatives, including Seminole, that collectively are expected to receive $7.3 billion. USDA expects this tranche of funding to drive $29 billion in large-scale clean energy investments across the country.
An estimated 3,400 jobs will be created by Seminole’s anticipated investment in 700 MW of solar and storage. The investment would provide stable-cost resource diversity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 3.5 million tons each year, the emissions equivalent to 1 million gasoline-powered cars.
"This initiative is a game-changer for Florida’s rural communities and the entire state,” said Sierra Club Florida Clean Energy Organizing Manager, Brooke Alexander-Goss. “By investing in clean, renewable energy made possible by Empowering Rural America, we will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but create good-paying jobs and ensure a better, brighter future for all Floridians. We are grateful for President Biden’s commitment to protecting our environment, and looking forward to seeing more clean energy investments in Florida.”
New ERA is designed to help rural electric cooperatives accelerate their entry into clean energy, a space where cooperatives have historically lagged. The $7.3 billion in federal grants and low cost loans is set to enable coops, including Seminole and 15 other finalists across the country, to improve resilience, reduce costs, and dramatically reduce emissions.
Sumter Electric Cooperative Energy and Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative are co-applicants with Seminole and will both utilize the New ERA investment to pursue solar, battery energy storage, and other projects that will increase rural access to clean energy and reduce emissions.
USDA’s full announcement of the program can be found here.
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.