In 2014 congress reauthorized the Farm Bill and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) which guaranteed $50 million for funding of renewable energy projects in rural America.
The USDA recently provided over $800,000 in grants from REAP to help offset the costs of solar power for seven small businesses in Utah, including several ranches and farms.
Lary Carter, owner of the Lary and Dean Carter Ranch in Beaver County, received over $150,000 in October for his solar panels.
Carter has three different solar panel installations or wells on his property that help offset the costs of running his sprinkler system and other farm equipment.
“It’s about $11,000-$12,000 per well a year in savings,” Carter said.
According to Jason Justesen, energy coordinator for USDA in Utah, the grants can provide up to 25 percent of the purchase and installation of a renewable energy system.
“Solar is a very readily renewable energy resource for the state of Utah. But anything such a biomass, geothermal, hydropower, small and large wind generation and solar generation—any of those are considered eligible project types,” Justesen said. “We tend to get a lot of solar because of our resource. We actually fund, in addition to the solar projects we funded a biomass project in 2015 as well as an energy efficiency improvement project.”
Justesen said this program has many benefits beyond just helping businesses and agricultural producers to save on energy costs.
“This program obviously helps increase American energy independence by increasing some of the private sector supply of renewable energy,” Justesen said.
All seven of the grants awarded by the USDA are for solar projects and are expected to produce the equivalent of enough combined energy to power 264 average-sized homes for a year.