Noah Rott, Sierra Club, noah.rott@sierraclub.org
WESTMINSTER, Colo. – Today the U.S. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the finalization of $2.5 billion in grants and low cost loans to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Cooperative, and $1 billion in grants to six other smaller electric cooperatives around the country to advance affordable, renewable energy under the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program.
According to Tri-State, the funding could help lower customer costs by $400 million over 20 years by financing the purchase of 1,040 megawatts of solar and wind, and 200 megawatts of storage, as well as retiring 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired power. Tri-State anticipates that the federal financing will allow them to avoid 5.8 million tons of climate pollution annually, while creating over 2,000 new jobs.
"This is a historic moment for rural cooperatives, where leaders like Tri-State are showing that they can reach towards deep decarbonization, and lower costs for their members while doing so," said Robin Everett, Beyond Coal Campaign Deputy Director. "This is proof that rural cooperatives are ready to take the front seat in advancing a clean energy economy for the benefit of the communities that they serve."
The investments will aid Tri-State in Colorado energy plans to accelerate its resources to renewable energy paired with storage, transmission across its entire service territory, which includes 16 member Colorado electric co-ops. Tri-State has struggled to maintain co-op members due to rising energy costs associated with overinvestment in fossil fuels. The company now plans to provide 70% clean energy to its members by 2030 while providing funding to northern Colorado communities impacted by coal plant closures.
The resource plan also proposes to retire two coal units earlier than previously announced, including a retirement date of no later than September 15, 2031 for Springerville Generating Station’s Unit 3 in Arizona, and a retirement date of January 1, 2028 for Unit 3 of the Craig, Colorado coal plant.
In addition to Tri-State’s award, USDA announced that six additional mid-sized cooperatives were finalists for $1 billion in clean energy grants under New ERA, bringing the total to 22 cooperatives and $8.3 billion in awards. The New ERA program, passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, previously announced $7.3 billion awarded to 16 large cooperatives, advancing over 10,000 megawatts of clean energy that will serve one-fifth of rural Americans. Today’s announcement includes Connexus Energy in Minnesota, Central Electric Power in South Carolina, Poudre Valley Rural Electric and Yampa Valley Electric in Colorado, Nebraska Electric Generation, and Rayburn Country Electric in Texas. According to USDA, the additional cooperative grants announced today will result in nearly 2,200 megawatts of clean energy and 410 megawatts of battery storage.
“New ERA has proven to be an extraordinary opportunity for cooperatives to put their best foot forward on clean energy planning and development, a space where cooperatives have historically lagged,” said Jeremy Fisher, Principal Advisor for Climate and Energy. “This program has shown that ambitious federal funding can unlock new, low-cost clean energy for customers that have previously had trouble accessing these resources. This funding is transformational.”
In September 2023, USDA reported that 157 cooperatives applied for New ERA, seeking more than twice the $9.7 billion congressional allocation to the program. Approximately $1 billion of the New ERA program has yet to be announced.
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.