Empowering Rural America Program

On August 16, 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169). Subtitle C, Section 22004 of IRA amended Section 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8103) by adding subjection (j). Through the passing of IRA, the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program was established with the goal of providing financial assistance to electric cooperatives to achieve the greatest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through the cooperatives’ voluntary transformation of rural electric systems in a way that promotes resiliency and reliability of rural electric systems and affordability for their members. The New ERA Program is being administered by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), that provides, mortgage loans and loan guarantees to electric systems to provide and improve electric service in rural areas pursuant to the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, as amended (7 U.S.C. 901 et seq., RE Act). Section 22004 of IRA provided the Agency with $9,700,000,000 in Budget Authority (BA), to remain available until September 30, 2031. With this BA, the Agency, through the New ERA Program, will provide financial assistance in the form of loans, loan and grant combinations, loan refinancing and modifications and other financial assistance.

The latest form for Empowering Rural America Program expires 2028-01-31 and can be found here.