Ready to receive your fair share of grants for clean energy to run your small business or rural community project? Wasting money on excessive utility bills at your manufacturing plant, but not sure how the switch to solar could work for you? Millions of dollars are available for clean energy conversion through federal programs, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office and U.S. Department of Energy are teaming up to tell you more about it.
The next Rural Clean Energy Federal Funding Fair is free online next Thursday, July 11, starting at 2 p.m. EDT. You can sign up via this link for the DOE portion of the webinar Thursday, July 11, 2024, 2-3 pm EDT and this link for the USDA portion Thursday, July 11, 2024, 4- 5 pm EDT.
Organizers say, “presenters will come from U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs, Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chain, Solar Energy Technology Office and their Loan Programs Office. Representatives from USDA will also talk more about USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America (REAP) program and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Electric Programs. Each session will focus on different programs.”
Help is available for manufacturing, workforce development, small business and rural communities. Another resource for seeing the range of programs supporting clean energy is here: IRA Pocket Guides | Rural Development (usda.gov)..
The next deadline to apply for what is currently a 50% Rural Energy for America grant for qualifying projects is September 30, 2024. Previous REAP grant recipients have been featured here telling how the program worked for them in their own words.
Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs and manages solar installation projects for manufacturers and related grant work for small businesses. She can be reached at her email or 865-221-8349.
