Energy Technical Assistance was created under the 2008 Farm Bill and provides ways to identify cost-effective opportunities for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures by rural agricultural producers and rural small businesses. A total of $2.4 million is available under this program for 2010 and the maximum grant is $100,000.

The eligible organizations under this program include units of State, tribal, or local government; land-grant colleges and universities and other institutions of higher education, rural electric cooperatives; and public power entities.

Applicants should follow the guidelines in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) carefully. The NOFA provides the criteria for scoring the competitive applications and information on how the application should be organized.

The NOFA can be downloaded here. (PDF format)

A total of $87 million is available for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements, leaving $9.9 million for energy technical assistance and $2.4 million for feasibility studies. Key: The deadline for applications to be submitted to state rural development offices is June 30, 2010.

Following are some key changes in this year’s notice:

• No mention of loan guarantee preference. In previous years the USDA placed a high preference on loan guarantees, effectively requiring them as a condition for preferential scoring of the grant applications. We see no mention of this and will seek and publish clarification soon.
• No extra points for smaller projects. Last year for the first time the USDA awarded 10 extra points for applications for grants of $20,000 or less, in response to Congressional support for these projects. The NOSA removes the extra points, since the REAP statute already creates a funding pool for these projects. No other changes for point scoring are found. (Clarification: Small projects already received points under the previously existing permanent rules).
• No repair for the rural restriction. Previously, the USDA has not allowed agricultural producers in non-rural areas to be eligible. We had understood that the USDA was committed to ending this restriction. It does not appear to be fixed in this NOSA.
• Clarification for eligibility and technical reporting for small hydropower.

According to Moore, several government policies have helped spur the development of wind power in rural America. Listen to the interview on the Brian Allmer Radio Network (BARN).

Since ELPC published the first edition of the Community Wind Financing Guide in 2004, wind power has become the United States’ fastest-growing source of electricity. Community wind projects, which represent a small but growing share of the wind market, are largely owned by farmers and other local investors with a significant economic stake in the project. Such local ownership generates powerful economic and social benefits for rural areas.

The updated Handbook provides the latest information on financing community wind projects, including ownership structures, roles of financial intermediaries, sources of federal and state financial support and consultant/developer directories. Although building these projects has become somewhat easier over time, understanding and accessing financing opportunities remains perhaps the most important requirement for a successful project.  Download the Community Wind Financing Handbook.[pdf file]

The Notice of Funds Availability was issued on June 11th, and USDA is now accepting applications from both farmers and biomass conversion facilities wishing to participate in this part of the program.  Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and no deadline for applications has been set.  See your county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office for more information on applying for BCAP CHST payments.

The regulations and funding for payments for energy crop establishment are under BCAP are expected later this year, in time for sign-ups to occur for the 2010 crop year.  The USDA is currently in the process of preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for BCAP and plans to issue proposed rules for the establishment portion of the program rather than another NOFA.

Sign up for updates from FSA on Twitter.

By adding $68.1 million in discretionary funding, the Senate’s proposal would boost total REAP funding for next year to $128.1 million ($60 million in mandatory funding + $68.1 million in discretionary funding).

The Senate’s action also boosts total Biorefinery Assistance funding to $262.339 million ($245 million in mandatory funding + $17.339 million in discretionary funding).

The Senate’s vote is a victory for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, which works closely with agricultural and environmental groups to build broad support for farm energy programs that help farmers and rural small businesses. ELPC applauds the Senate’s  action; these energy programs help farmers and spur rural economic development, while helping America tackle  global warming challenges.

Next step: Congress needs to reconcile the Senate and House spending proposals in a Conference Committee. Last month the House voted on the FY 2010 budget, and endorsed a more modest increase for REAP of $20 million. It did not add any funding for the Biorefinery Assistance Program or any other Energy Title program. Stay tuned for more updates – we expect Congress to act sometime in the Fall, after the August recess.

For more detailed information on the FY 2010 process, visit our Appropriations page.

July 8, 2009

Late yesterday the US Senate Committee on Appropriations voted to boost funding for farm energy programs that will create more clean energy and new income for rural Americans.

The committee voted to increase fiscal year 2010 funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) from $60 million to $128 million. The REAP program helps farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses build their own clean energy projects. REAP provides grant and loan guarantee assistance for a broad range of clean energy technologies including biomass, manure digesters, wind and solar power, and energy efficiency.

Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, Chair of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, was a key supporter of the funding increase.  “Our nation faces historic challenges for our economy, our environment and our energy security,” Kohl said. “Farmers in Wisconsin and across the nation have much at stake and want to be part of the solution.  These funds will help lead the way toward greener energy independence.”

The committee also voted to increase funding for the Biorefinery Assistance program, by $17 million. Biorefinery Assistance spurs development of next generation biofuels projects, such as cellulosic ethanol. Through this program, the USDA is the only federal agency to issue loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol to date.

The vote was a victory for the Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC), which works closely with agricultural and environmental groups to build broad support for farm energy programs and funding. “We applaud the Senators’ action; these energy programs help farmers and spur rural economic development, while helping America tackle  global warming challenges,” said Andy Olsen, Senior Policy Advocate with ELPC.

The Appropriations Committee’s action yesterday matches President Obama’s budget recommendations for these two programs. Next, the Senate will need to approve the Committee’s decisions, and then reconcile the levels with the House appropriations.

Success stories from the REAP program are available here.  Additional information on these programs can be found at FarmEnergy.org.

###

The Environmental law and Policy Center is the Midwest’s Leading environmental Legal Advocacy and Eco-Business Innovation Organization. www.ELPC.org

For the 2009 REAP program, the USDA has tried to address this problem by changing how it allocates award funds. Now, each individual state Rural Development office has been provided an allocation of funds for its state. This will speed up awards of some grants and all loan guarantees. USDA has allocated a total of $27.7 million (46% of overall funding) to the states.

Enhancement made by Congress to the program, including energy technical assistance and feasibility studies, will also help states that have lagged in winning funding. In depth program information can be found at our “REAP Frequently Asked Questions” page.

If a given state’s allocation is exhausted, it can request additional funds from the national office “reserve,” but only for loan guarantees or grant-loan guarantee combinations. After the state allocation is used up, only loan guarantees will be funded from the state. The reserve has a total of $11.9 million (20% of overall funding).

If a state doesn’t use its allocation by September 8, 2009, the funds are pooled with other allocations and returned to the national office for distribution in final awards for FY2009.

The state allocation is one of five allocations created by the USDA to implement the new program enhancements added in the 2008 Farm Bill. The following table shows how the USDA has allocated total program funding:

REAP Budgetary Allocation, Fiscal Year 2009

The budget for each state can be found at the back of this official notice on the allocations.

This program provides funding assistance for biorefineries to reduce their carbon footprint by replacing fossil fuels used in their heat and/or power process with renewable biomass.

For this program, an eligible biorefinery is defined as a production facility for bio-based, liquid transportation biofuels. Facilities can receive payment for up to 3 years. The selection of a project to receive payments as well as the amount and duration of payments will depend upon how a facility scores on the ranking criteria which are, in general: cost, cost effectiveness and technical merit.

Applications for this funding are being accepted starting July 1 and continuing through November 1 of this year. The maximum award is $5 million or 50% of project costs and a total of $20 million is available for 2009, with nationwide competition for funding. You can download the Repowering_NOFA here.