(The Center Square) – Nearly three dozen rural business owners and agricultural producers in Washington state will share $6 million in federal grant monies to lower their operating costs through the use of solar panel arrays and other renewable-energy technology.
The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act and administered through the U.S Department of Agriculture’s “Rural Energy for America Program,” Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Loans and Grants.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced her home state’s allocations on Tuesday, saying the program is “truly a win-win.”
“We’re building new clean energy infrastructure, lowering energy costs, and putting more money back into the pockets of small business owners and local producers who power our rural communities,” Murray said in a press release.
Nationwide, USDA is awarding $266 million in loans and grants to agriculture producers and rural small businesses.
Many of the projects funded in Washington state go toward installation of solar array and voltaic systems to generate electricity. The smallest is an $11,888 grant to Warm Valley Farm in San Juan County. The project aims to generate 12.8 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power one residential home, at an annual cost savings of about $1,075.
The largest project is for Sakata Seed America in Skagit County, which received $979,000 to install a 1-megawatt solar power system. That will save an estimated $88,659 in annual energy costs and 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough for an estimated 105 homes.
Other major solar array projects which received funding include:
a $415,000 grant to Royal Dairy in Grant County for a system to produce 540 kilowatt hours of electricity, annually saving $56,000 in costs and 1,330 kilowatt hours, enough to power 133 homes.Borton and Sons Fruit of Yakima County, which received two grants of $393,408 each. One will fund a 599-kilowatt solar array for a processing plant near Zillah; the other of the same capacity will assist a related farm operation in a rural part of the county. Together, the two projects are expected to save a combined $135,000 in energy costs and replace nearly 1.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough for 947 residential homes.
Not all of the 34 USDA-funded projects in Washington were for solar array projects. A handful received monies for other purposes.
Farm Power Northwest, a Washington and Oregon company focused on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy, received $731,677 for an anaerobic digester operation near Lynden in Whatcom County. The project traps methane gas from dairy cow manure, then burns the gas to produce electricity. The project is expected to generate about 4.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough for nearly 400 homes.
Ag producer Leo Gasseling and Sons got a $500,000 grant to convert its hops-drying kilns located on the Yakama Nation tribal reservation from diesel power to higher-efficiency propane power. That conversion is expected to save nearly $299,000 in annual fuel and energy costs and replace nearly 911,000 kilowatts of energy, enough for 88 homes.
Other funding recipients included Byron Automation of Naches for $79,068 to improve and replace heating/air conditioning systems; $69,200 to All Mimsy Were the Borogoves of Cathlamet to install a 16-ton geothermal system to power, heat and cool organic greenhouses; and $67,411 to Portco Corporation to switch to LED lighting at facilities in Yakima and Cowlitz counties.
Collectively, all the Washington projects will save an estimated $1.124 million in power costs and just over 14 million kilowatt hours of energy usage annually.
“These once-in-a-generation investments in renewable energy, like wind and solar, and energy efficient technologies create new markets and deliver real cost savings for our small and mid-sized agricultural operations and Main Street businesses, building and keeping wealth in rural America,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in an Aug. 30 news release.
