Great River Energy named finalist for clean energy funding

President Joe Biden announced the first round of finalists for the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, part of the administration’s efforts to boost clean energy investments in rural communities, at an event held Sept. 5 in Westby, Wisconsin.

Great River Energy was among the cooperatives announced as a finalist.

The New ERA program aims to support rural electric cooperatives in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning to clean energy sources. The program provides grants and loans for clean energy projects and refinancing for carbon-intensive stranded assets, with a focus on increasing energy resiliency, reliability and affordability. The New ERA program was appropriated $9.7 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

“Our consortium laid out an innovative portfolio of projects and power purchase agreements that will benefit cooperative members across Minnesota,” said Great River Energy President and Chief Executive Officer David Saggau. “The projects in our New ERA proposal will allow us to procure more than 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy while creating over 1,500 new jobs, saving our members $30 million on average annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by over 5 million tons and creating a host of benefits across the communities we serve.”

A consortium of Great River Energy and its member-owners have advanced past the competition stage and are currently in the underwriting and negotiation phase of the New ERA program, bringing them one step closer to receiving funding.