Rural small businesses and agricultural producers seeking to improve the energy efficiency of their business operations or implement renewable energy systems may be able to utilize one or more programs to offset much of their costs.

USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program or REAP is a program that provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding for these businesses. Competitive grants range from $2,500 to $1 million for up to 50% of the cost for renewable energy systems and from $1,500 to $1 million for up to 25% of cost energy efficiency grants.

Renewable energy system projects eligible for the 50% grant include but are not limited to solar, wind geothermal and biomass. Energy efficiency improvement projects for the 25% grant include but are not limited to insulation, high efficiency HVAC, lighting, and switching to more energy efficient processes.

Guaranteed loan requests are for similar eligible purposes and are limited to 75% of the project cost.

The program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act has four remaining application windows: Dec. 31, 2023; March 31, 2024; June 30, 2024 and Sept. 30, 2024. Application information can be found on USDA Rural Development’s website at https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/energy-programs/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency-improvement-guaranteed-loans.

This program can be leveraged with other programs offered by Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy (www.focusonenergy.com ) PACE Wisconsin energy financing (www.pacewi.org) and your local utility suppliers.

Submitted by Pierce County Economic Development Corp.