By Shannon Lukens. (Courtesy photos) From left to right: Emily Zvorak, YVEA Finance Manager, Carly Davidson, Public Relations Specialist, Jeff Milius, Energy Resources Supervisor, CEO Scott Blecke, Board Member Sasha Nelson, and Grants Coordinator Helen Sedler.

 

Yampa Valley Electric has been selected to be part of the USDA New ERA Grant. It is a power purchase agreement. The money will go towards buying that power and stabilizing energy costs for members.

The amount is around $50 million. It is the largest grant YVEA has ever received.

More jobs will be created, including 275 short-term, and six long-term. Costs will be stabilized for rural cooperative members, and carbon emissions will be reduced.

YVEA serves 7,000 square miles in Northwest Colorado and Southwest Wyoming.

It was announced at Tri-State headquarters in Westminster, Colo. on Friday. YVEA was there, including YVEA President Scott Blecke and board member Sasha Nelson.

 

 

Here are various press releases on the announcement, with many more details.

 

Press Release from Yampa Valley Electric and Luminate Broadband; Oct. 25, 2024.

 

New ERA and YVEA Press Release; October 25, 2024

 

Headline: YVEA Selected for USDA New ERA Grant

 

This New ERA investment will help Yampa Valley Electric Association (YVEA) reduce the costs associated with procuring a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for an upcoming renewable energy project.

 

The project will integrate up to 150 megawatts of solar energy and 75 megawatts of battery energy storage. YVEA serves 7,000 square miles in Northwestern Colorado and Southwestern Wyoming.

 

Through New ERA, YVEA will assist in creating up to 275 short-term and 6 long-term jobs, stabilize costs for rural cooperative members, and reduce carbon emissions by over 255,000 tons per year, equivalent to providing electricity for more than 45,000 homes, according to EPA calculations across the country.

 

Overall, this investment will improve the efficiency of YVEA’s power supply, stabilize energy costs for its members, and expand the cooperative’s commitment to powering rural and underserved areas, ultimately contributing to lasting benefits that enhance the quality of life for those served.

 

“Electric cooperatives excel at finding innovative ways to meet the needs of their members and power their communities, while strengthening America’s electric grid,” NRECA CEO Jim Matheson said. “The New ERA program is a transformative opportunity for electric co-ops that allows them to tailor energy solutions to meet local needs.

 

“We are grateful to USDA and our allies in Congress for working with us to ensure the program supports a wide variety of co-op projects and delivers tangible benefits to the communities they serve.”

 

Additionally, the grant includes a Community Benefits Plan (CBP) that will allocate funds to support all local energy transition communities. We will provide more details about this plan in the coming months.

 

“YVEA is honored to participate in this program, connecting our remote rural communities with reliable energy that will further help to stabilize energy costs. This recognition underscores YVEA’s commitment to innovation and enhances the cooperative’s ability to meet the evolving energy needs of our rural communities.” — Scott Blecke, President & CEO, Yampa Valley Electric Association

 

 

Press Release from Tri-State; Oct. 25, 2024

 

USDA New ERA award to finance $2.5 billion in Tri-State clean energy investments 

 

• U.S. Department of Agriculture awards Tri-State funding through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program to advance its industry-leading energy transition.
• USDA leadership and Members of Congress celebrate award at Tri-State’s headquarters.

 

(October 25, 2024, Westminster, Colo.) Tri-State’s members and rural communities across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming will benefit from a reliable, affordable and responsible energy transition supported with $2.5 billion in low-cost financing and grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program.

 

In an announcement at Tri-State’s headquarters in Westminster, Colo., USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small was joined by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Reps. Yadira Caraveo and Brittany Pettersen, USDA Rural Development Colorado State Director Crestina M. Martinez and other officials.

 

“This is a momentous day for Tri-State, for our members, and for the future of rural electric cooperatives,” said Duane Highley, Tri-State’s Chief Executive Officer. “Most importantly, this is all about our rural communities, who are the beneficiaries, and how we can accomplish an accelerated energy transition that ensures reliability, in an affordable manner, that finally allows rural America to own and directly see the benefits.”

 

“We are incredibly grateful to the USDA, our congressional delegations, our board of directors, members and employees, and the stakeholders who have championed the development of the New ERA Program and our application,” said Tim Rabon, Tri-State’s Chairman and Trustee of Otero County Electric Cooperative (Cloudcroft, N.M.).

 

“At USDA Rural Development, we are deeply committed to supporting our rural partners and ensuring that communities across Colorado have access to the resources they need to thrive,” said Crestina M. Martinez, Colorado State Director for USDA Rural Development. “These historic investments in renewable energy are a testament to that commitment. By fostering clean energy solutions through the New ERA program, we are not only creating sustainable economic opportunities but also ensuring that our rural areas remain resilient and forward looking. Together with our local partners, we are building a stronger, greener future for generations to come.”

 

The projects supported by the New ERA award will help Tri-State’s members reach 70% clean energy used in 2030, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 5.8 million tons annually. In Colorado, Tri-State’s greenhouse gas emissions are forecasted to be reduced 89% in 2030 from a 2005 baseline.

 

Award strengthens Tri-State financials, supports competitive wholesale rates 

 

Tri-State’s New ERA award supports financing for:

• 1,280 megawatts of energy from solar, wind and wind/storage hybrid projects;
• More than 100 megawatts of stand-alone energy storage projects; and
• Retirement of 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired energy generation, which lessens the financial burden of stranded assets for Tri-State members.

 

“Tri-State’s financial agility and strength will be bolstered with the most efficient and economic capital to be deployed in our industry, at a cost that will be below 2%, to support continued competitive wholesale rates for our members,” said Todd Telesz, Tri-State’s Chief Financial Officer. “With an industry-leading clean energy portfolio and vast transmission network owned by our members, we are well positioned to serve our members across the rural West well into the future.”

 

With the New ERA award, wholesale electricity rates for cooperative members are expected to be reduced 10% by 2034, compared to business as usual, amassing $430 million in rural consumer benefits over ten years. From 2017 through 2025, Tri-State’s wholesale rate to its members will only have increased 2.46%, which is 0.3% annualized and significantly below the rate of inflation over the nine-year period.

 

Tri-State delivers community and farmer benefits, reliability and affordability for members 

As part of the New ERA Program, Tri-State will invest back into rural communities including where New ERA projects are located, delivering community support driven by local input.

 

“Tri-State is committed to delivering on our community benefit plans, and we’re especially looking forward to engagement with farmers across our service territory in supporting farmer benefits,” said Highley.

 

Many of the New ERA projects are incorporated into Tri-State’s 2023 Electric Resource Plan. Tri-State has issued requests for proposals for new resources for projects to be constructed between 2026 and 2031. Tri-State’s ERP reflects both industry standard reliability metrics and Tri-State’s heightened “Level II” reliability metrics, which assess electric system resilience in extreme summer and winter weather conditions.

 

“Our rural communities will benefit greatly from the cooperative investments in clean energy we will continue to make and with the New ERA Program funding we can make those investments in a more aggressive and economic way to provide the reliable, affordable and responsible energy that will lead our communities into a brighter future,” said David Spradlin, CEO of Springer Electric Cooperative (Springer, N.M.).

 

“Together with Tri-State and with the support from USDA, our members will have an increasingly clean power supply that remains reliable and affordable, and that aligns with our cooperative board’s strategic plans and initiatives,” said Gary Kelly, CEO, Sangre de Cristo Electric Association (Buena Vista, Colo.).

 

“Reliable power is the lifeblood of our rural communities. New ERA funding ensures Tri-State has the resources to keep the lights on with a higher standard for reliability, while investing in infrastructure needed to power the future,” said Molly Lynn, general manager of Garland Light and Power Co. (Powell, Wyo.).

 

“Similar to the transformation rural communities experienced through the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, today we are re-electrifying rural America, and with USDA’s support, Tri-State can even better meet our needs for a reliable power supply with stable wholesale rates through the energy transition,” said Curtis Kayton, general manager of Chimney Rock Public Power District (Bayard, Neb.).

 

Tri-State’s New ERA funding will support the following projects: 

Arizona 

• Springerville Station Unit 3 retirement, Apache County

Colorado  

• Spanish Peaks Solar/Spanish Peaks II Solar power purchase agreements (PPA), Las Animas County

• Craig Station Unit 2 and Unit 3 retirements, Moffat County

• Solar PPA, Western Colorado

• 4-hr Lithium-Ion battery owned by Tri-State, Eastern Colorado

• Two wind PPAs, Eastern Colorado

New Mexico  

• Escalante Station retirement, McKinley County

• Escalante Solar PPA, McKinley County

• 4-hr Lithium-Ion battery owned by Tri-State

• Solar project PPA

• Two wind/storage hybrid project PPAs

Wyoming/Eastern Nebraska

• Three wind PPAs

About Tri-State  

Tri-State is a power supply cooperative, operating on a not-for-profit basis, serving electric distribution cooperatives and public power district member-owners in four states. Together with our members, we deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West. Visit www.tristate.coop.

Contact     

 

 

 

Tri-State’s members and rural communities across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming will benefit from a reliable, affordable and responsible energy transition supported with $2.5 billion in low-cost financing and grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program.

 

It was announced at Tri-State headquarters in Westminster, Colo. on Friday.

 

 

Press Release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Oct. 25, 2024.

 

 

Biden-Harris Administration Invests in Clean, More Affordable Energy for Seven Rural Electric Cooperatives from South Carolina to Colorado as Part of Investing in America Agenda

 

More Than $3 Billion in Clean Energy Financing Will Help Lower Energy Costs and Reduce Pollution for Rural Americans

 

Westminster, Colo., Oct. 25, 2024 – Today Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced more than $3 billion through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program to lower electricity costs as part of President Biden and Vice President Harris’ Investing in America Agenda.

USDA is awarding nearly $2.5 billion in financing for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and has selected six rural electric cooperatives to move forward in the awards process for nearly $1 billion in New ERA funds. New ERA was made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which makes the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.

 

New ERA program funding is available to member-owned rural electric cooperatives, which have been the backbone of America’s rural power delivery for nearly a century. Today’s investment in rural co-ops will create good-paying jobs and make energy more affordable for families in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

 

“Since day one of his administration, President Biden has remained committed to ensuring rural communities are directly benefitting from a clean energy economy,” Secretary Vilsack said. “Through today’s announcement, USDA is delivering on this commitment with critical funding from the President’s historic Inflation Reduction Act. These projects will strengthen America’s energy security while increasing access to affordable and reliable clean energy for people across the nation.”

 

 

“The Inflation Reduction Act makes the largest investment in rural electrification since FDR and the New Deal in the 1930s,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy. “Today’s awards will bring clean, affordable, reliable power to rural Americans from Colorado to Texas to South Carolina.”

 

 

“All across America, rural electric cooperatives play an important role in delivering reliable sources of energy to rural communities. Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership, we are making significant investments to ensure that those communities are receiving clean, carbon-free energy – which will reduce the pollution in our air and water, create good-paying jobs, and lower families’ home energy costs,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “By helping rural cooperatives upgrade infrastructure and invest in newer, lower cost clean electricity projects, these investments will benefit rural families and businesses who for too long have faced disproportionately high energy costs due to the challenges of providing electricity in remote communities.”

 

Today in Westminster, Colorado, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Torres Small joined the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to highlight the benefits of the nearly $2.5 billion in financing, made possible by a combination of grants and loans through the program. Tri-State’s award is expected to reduce electricity rates 10 percent for cooperative members by 2034, amassing $430 million in rural consumer benefits over ten years. New ERA funds will finance the purchase of 1,040 megawatts of renewable energy and more than 200 megawatts of energy storage. New ERA funds will also help Tri-State refinance the retirement of 1,100 megawatts of previously and newly announced coal-fired energy generation. The investments will provide affordable, reliable, and resilient energy to Tri-State’s cooperative members across Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. This investment will reduce climate pollution by nearly 5.8 million tons annually. This transformative investment is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.

 

 

USDA also announced six electric cooperatives to move forward in the New ERA process. The six cooperatives are:

• Connexus Energy, serving rural communities in Minnesota and South Dakota,
• Central Electric Power Cooperative Inc, serving rural communities in South Carolina,
• Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association Inc., serving rural communities in Colorado,
• Nebraska Electric Generation, serving rural communities in Nebraska,
• Rayburn Country Electric Cooperative serving rural communities in Texas, and
• Yampa Valley Electric Association, serving rural communities in Colorado

 

USDA will be investing nearly $1 billion in grants and loans for these six new selectees, which will leverage investments of $6.4 billion for 1.75 gigawatts of clean energy for rural communities across the country. The selectees announced today will reduce and avoid at least 6.4 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

 

 

Including today’s announcements, USDA has announced over $8.3 billion in funding as part of the New ERA program to benefit rural electric cooperatives and their members through the New ERA program. USDA expects this over $8.3 billion to result in over $13 billion in New ERA financed grants and loans. These projects will create good-paying jobs, lower energy costs for rural communities, significantly reduce pollution, enhance the resiliency of the nation’s electric grid, and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative. One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean energy investments.

 

 

Farmer Benefit Plan

 

USDA also announced the release of a Farmer Benefit Plan as an innovative way for New ERA awardees to demonstrate ways for agricultural producers to benefit from clean energy projects. USDA encourages each award recipient to collaborate with local stakeholders to develop a Community Benefit Plan. During the first year of the award, applicants will collaborate with their communities and local farm associations to codevelop a plan. Based on the New ERA applications received so far, coops are collaborating with 154 local community groups, including 50 farm organizations, to explore local priorities.

 

As part of their New ERA award, Tri-State will develop a Farmer Benefit Plan that aims to lower electricity costs for farmers who voluntarily participate in a smart irrigation program. The goal of the program is to reduce pumping load at the times of peak demand. This will help reduce future energy needs and offset the need to build new transmission and generation, saving cooperative members from future costs. Tri-State will work with farmers to execute additional energy programs to encourage the most efficient use of electricity and water and will provide no-cost technical support to enable participation in these opportunities. Tri-State will engage local farm associations for additional ideas as they move through the Community Benefits Plan process.

 

 

Investments from USDA Rural Development

 

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and healthcare; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. Visit the Rural Data Gateway to learn how and where these investments are impacting rural America.

These investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act are powering the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to make USDA programs more inclusive, accessible and available to more people than ever before so that these benefits are felt for generations to come. Many of these programs are also part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which is advancing environmental justice by ensuring that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and other investments reach disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

 

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

 

USDA expects to continue making New ERA and Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program awards in the coming months.

 

To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit GovDelivery subscriber page.

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