Officials in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development branch announced last week that up to an estimated $200 million in guaranteed loan funds are now available for investments in renewable-energy systems and energy-efficiency improvements by agriculture producers and
Officials in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development branch announced last week that up to an estimated $200 million in guaranteed loan funds are now available for investments in renewable-energy systems and energy-efficiency improvements by agriculture producers and owners and operators of rural small businesses.
The $200 million ($11.4 million in actual cost to the government) in loan funds is part of $22.8 million in federal funds available for various purposes, announced earlier this year by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
Gregg Gardiner, chairman of the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) board of directors, said KIUC’s board and management are 100 percent committed to renewable energy, “but wants to make the definitive decision of which type of renewables when all the engineering analysis and financial feasibility studies are in.”
Gardiner said the $200 million in renewable-energy loans are part of a program that has been available for some time, but for this federal fiscal year and next the amount available has been enhanced to a total of $200 million.
He said the advantage of this particular program is that approved-project loan applications go to the front of the line, and the processing and funding happens sooner.
“KIUC has completed its renewable-energy study, and has selected its advisory council for its Integrated Resource Plan — a plan that will look forward 10 years. With that plan and (state) Public Utilities Commission approval it is hopeful that by next fiscal year KIUC would be in a position to submit an application for funding under this program,” he said.
KIUC leaders have reached a 13.2-percent “renewable-portfolio standard” as of 2004, he said. Under a state law to encourage leaders of utilities to become less dependent on oil for electrical generation, leaders of utilities are to reach a 15-percent mark by 2015, and a 20-percent mark by 2020, according to KIUC officials.
In the earlier announcement, Johanns indicated that the $22.8 million would be made available in two stages; in March of 2005, USDA officials began receiving grant applications while the remaining $11.4 million, which will convert into an estimated $200 million in guaranteed loan funds, would be delayed pending the publishing of the application guidelines for the guaranteed-loan program. The period for receiving grant applications closed June 27.
Section 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill established the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements loan and grant program to encourage agricultural producers and small rural businesses to create renewable and energy-efficient systems, according to information from USDA officials.
The funds announced last week will be available to support a wide range of technologies, encompassing biomass (including anaerobic digesters), geothermal, hydrogen, solar, and wind energy, as well as energy-efficiency improvements, according to a USDA spokesperson.
