WESTBY, Wis. — During a visit to Wisconsin today [Sept. 5, 2024], President Joe Biden and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce more than $7.3 billion in financing for rural electric cooperatives to build clean energy for rural communities across the country through the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. Together, New ERA and other investments in rural clean energy in the President’s Inflation Reduction Act make up the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936 as part of the New Deal.

During a visit to Edgecombe, N.C., a Rural Partners Network community, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden today announced that USDA is funding 216 projects in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands to bring high-speed internet, clean water, state-of-the-art infrastructure and economic growth to rural communities as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

The new projects, totaling $772.6 million in investments, will benefit more than 1 million people living in remote areas of the country by providing reliable high-speed internet access, clean, safe water and a range of support for rural families, agricultural producers and small businesses.

More Than $800M Aims to Strengthen Rural Infrastructure and Create Jobs – Morning AgClips: Funding to benefit nearly 480,000 people and advance President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is investing $808 million to help rural cooperatives and utilities build and improve electric infrastructure and increase electric grid reliability and security, connecting hundreds of thousands of people in rural areas. This funding will also help provide clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems in rural areas for years to come. Today’s announcement will benefit nearly 480,000 people in 36 states and two U.S. territories while building and strengthening rural infrastructure, and creating good-paying jobs.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced nearly $700 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 22 states and the Marshall Islands to reliable, affordable high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This program is uniquely designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are the most rural, remote and unserved communities.

Connecting all communities across the United States to high-speed internet is a central part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and middle out by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.This agenda is driving more than $500 billion in private-sector manufacturing investments, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating good-paying jobs. And it’s transforming our country for the better – reaching communities in every corner of the United States, including those that have too often been left behind.