FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Amanda Pankau, Prairie Rivers Network, apankau@prairierivers.org, 217-840-3057
Derrick Bruhn, Topflight Grain Cooperative Inc., dbruhn@tfgrain.com
USDA Rural Energy for America Program Grant
Providing Solar Opportunities in Piatt County
Increased Federal Investments in Rural Communities and Clean Energy are
Paying Off for Agricultural Producers and Rural Small Businesses in Illinois
PIATT COUNTY, IL. – Last week USDA Rural Development announced recipients of their Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant, and over a hundred Illinois agricultural producers and rural small businesses will be awarded grants for renewable energy. A solar project at TopFlight Grain Cooperative Inc.’s Pierson location in southern Piatt County was among the REAP grant awards announced. With this project, Topflight will now have solar projects at nine of their facilities, including six projects in Piatt County. In August 2023, USDA announced a prior round of REAP grants including over a hundred other Illinois renewable energy projects.
The REAP Grant provides grants and loans for renewable energy development, and eligible applicants are rural small businesses and agricultural producers. The REAP Grant gained additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act in an effort to invest in rural communities and advance renewable energy.
“Solar has allowed TopFlight Grain to generate power onsite from a renewable resource and significantly cut our energy costs,” said Derrick Bruhn, General Manager TopFlight Grain Cooperative, Inc., “We had applied for the grant before without success, but thanks to the increase in grant funding we were awarded this time. We were able to utilize land around our facilities that was unable to be developed or farmed, an important consideration for us.”
“Through my work at Prairie Rivers Network, I mostly work with communities facing the closure of coal facilities, but it is particularly exciting for me to see renewable energy projects in my own community of Piatt County!” said Amanda Pankau, Director of Energy and Community Resiliency at Prairie Rivers Network, “Prairie Rivers Network has worked on pollution issues in our power sector for decades and now we’re also helping rural communities explore new energy opportunities that save money and protect the water, air, and land.”
State “Renewable Energy Credits”(REC) and federal tax credits also exist to incentivize solar, and many homeowners, businesses, and communities are going solar with benefits to their pocketbook and the environment. The state RECs can cover 25-40% of project costs, and federal tax credits can cover at least 30% of project costs. Under a new federal law, tax-exempt entities, such as local governments, schools, and nonprofit organizations, can now access the value of the federal tax credit through a newly established “elective payment” or “direct pay” option.
TopFlight Grain Cooperative Inc., is not the only Piatt County business that has benefited from the REAP Grant. BeSpoke Gift Company went solar on their building on the Monticello historic courthouse square in 2019. And in 2021, Sunset Acres, LLC went solar on their cattle farm outside of Monticello. Both received the REAP Grant for their projects.
Application windows for the REAP Grant are open six times a year and rural small businesses and agricultural producers can learn more here: https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/energy-programs/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency-improvement-guaranteed-loans/il
Prairie Rivers Network
At Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), we protect water, heal land, and inspire change. Using the creative power of science, law, and collective action, we protect and restore our rivers, return healthy soils and diverse wildlife to our lands, and transform how we care for the earth and for each other. PRN is the Illinois affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.
