083024 VEA USDA Grant

USDA Invests $80.3 million in Nevada Clean Energy Through Pahrump Cooperative
PAHRUMP, Nev., Aug. 29, 2024 - The Biden-Harris Administration today announced an $80.3 million award to Valley Electric Association, a rural electric cooperative, for clean energy projects in rural Nevada that will lower power bills for households, expand reliable access to clean energy and create jobs for rural families, small businesses and agricultural producers.
This award is part of the USDA’s Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program, which is funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced the funding today during a visit to the site of a planned solar power facility in Pahrump. The region is prone to wildfires and outages but will soon have an uninterrupted supply of electricity thanks to a facility that will generate and store energy from the sun.
“Rural people deserve continued energy opportunities as demand for clean energy increases,” Deputy Secretary Torres Small said. “The Biden-Harris Administration is working to make sure efforts to tackle climate change also help grow the local economy. These USDA investments will lower costs for Americans and create good-paying jobs in rural communities for years to come.”
"Valley Electric Association has been a strong partner of ours," said USDA Rural Development Nevada State Director Lucas Ingvoldstad. "As a recipient of multiple USDA rural energy programs, Valley Electric has worked hard to ensure that small businesses and ag producers in Nye County are informed and able to lower energy costs and posie themselves for both sustainability and success. This investment will enable Valley Electric to support more rural communities who may otherwise struggle to have the reliable and affordable access to power that every Nevadan deserves."
Valley Electric Association plans to use an $80.3 million investment to install a 37-megawatt solar power generation and storage system to serve Pahrump and the Fish Lake Valley region. The project will strengthen the energy grid, lower rates for the association’s members and keep critical services powered in the region. It will produce enough electricity to power 3,500 homes. Valley Electric serves communities participating in the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a USDA-led collaboration between federal, state and local partners to help underserved communities access federal funding.
Background: PACE
In May 2023, USDA made $1 billion available through PACE to fund new clean energy projects and energy storage in rural America. The program provides low-interest loans with up to 60% loan forgiveness to renewable energy developers, rural electric cooperatives and other rural energy providers for renewable energy storage and projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass. By using renewable energy from natural sources, PACE projects will make it more affordable for people to heat their homes, run their businesses and power cars, schools, hospitals and more.
PACE also is a covered program in the President’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy and other investment areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
So far, USDA has announced more than $665 million of investments selected to proceed under the PACE program. USDA expects to continue making PACE awards in the coming months.
Background: RPN
Launched in April 2022 and expanded in November 2022, RPN is now active in 36 community networks in 10 states and Puerto Rico.
Community networks receive support from full-time USDA staff who live and work locally. These staff members provide technical assistance based on each community’s needs, helping them navigate federal programs, build relationships and apply for funding. In addition to USDA staff, there are staff at more than 20 other federal agencies dedicated to RPN and making resources across the government easier to access for people in rural communities.
RPN communities also benefit from coordination through other federal efforts such as the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization and President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Investing in America agenda. The Rural Prosperity Interagency Policy Council, co-led by the White House Domestic Policy Council and USDA, advises the RPN program and ensures rural voices are heard and reflected in national policies that will benefit all people in rural communities.
For more information on RPN, visit Rural.gov
To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.