Battle to Save Rural Energy Program Gains Momentum
A popular rural energy program, meant to help cut energy costs for farmers and small businesses is in jeopardy of being cut. The fight in Congress to save the Rural Energy for American Program could have impacts nationwide.
Transcript
00:00 So many times when bills end up on the political chopping block in Washington, D.C., the effects
00:06 are felt far beyond the Beltway.
00:09 It's part of the reason why rural America is watching very closely right now over the
00:13 fate of a popular energy bill.
00:17 Far from the politics of Washington, D.C., there is a simplicity to life out here.
00:23 And yet that simplicity often gets complicated once politicians get involved.
00:28 If this gets scaled back, there will be a lot of lost economic development opportunity.
00:33 That is Andy Olson from the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
00:37 He was shocked when a popular rural energy program called REAP fell victim to Washington
00:42 politics recently.
00:43 At a time when so many of our rural communities are struggling, that just doesn't make sense.
00:48 REAP stands for Rural Energy for America Program.
00:51 It was created back in 2002 and helps farmers and small businesses get grants for energy
00:56 saving projects.
00:57 Andy Olson was one of its original architects.
01:00 REAP provides rural economic development for communities across the country and in every
01:05 state.
01:06 Since 2021, REAP has leveraged more than $1.2 billion in public investment to help lower
01:11 energy costs, creating more than $3.4 billion in renewable energy projects for rural America.
01:18 Back in June, House Republicans, though, proposed slashing the program by nearly $500 million.
01:23 That is disappointing to see REAP being treated as a political football when for so long it's
01:28 been, you know, had bipartisan support.
01:33 Many projects already in the works are in jeopardy if funding gets cut.
01:37 Since 2019, the eastern shore of Maryland has received more than $270,000 in rural energy
01:43 grants from REAP.
01:45 Republican Representative Andy Harris represents the district and defended the cuts, telling
01:49 Scripps News in a statement, quote, in a year of President Biden's $1.7 trillion deficit,
01:55 programs like REAP should return to pre-pandemic funding levels.
01:59 You're never going to get anything done unless people pay attention to you, especially when
02:03 it comes to Washington, D.C.
02:05 Jeff Labenz-Ho is with America's Rural Energy Coalition.
02:09 Right now, the only thing that rural has that urban has any interest in is energy development.
02:16 REAP's fate is not totally sealed, though. In early August, Representative Abigail Spanberger,
02:21 a Democrat from Virginia, Representative David Valadao, a Republican from California, and
02:26 Senator Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, reintroduced a bipartisan version of the bill,
02:32 raising some funding while raising certain grant limits.
02:35 You really want to build up places where there are, where there's bipartisan interest in
02:41 renewables and in clean energy.
02:43 In a statement to Scripps News, Representative Valadao vowed to support the program to help
02:47 rural small businesses and farmers lower energy costs.
02:51 It's very important for our rural communities to have these investments in agriculture and
02:57 in rural small business.
03:00 Waves of uncertainty for a popular energy program, with politicians ultimately deciding
03:06 its fate.
03:07 Chris Conte, Scripps News, Church Hill, Maryland.