Forty-six rural utilities and cooperatives will receive $1.6 billion in loans for system improvements for more than 100,000 rural customers, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The loans, spread among 30 states, will include building and improving more than 11,000 miles of distribution and transmission lines for 109,250 rural customers. Two Oklahoma-based cooperatives will receive almost $40 million in loans.
"Our rural communities need reliable, affordable electric service to support business expansion and broaden economic opportunities, and President Obama is delivering on his commitment to invest in America’s infrastructure and create jobs," Vilsack said. "These loans will spur growth in rural America by helping cooperatives and rural utilities deliver improved service to more customers."
For example, Fox Islands Wind, LLC, in Vinalhaven, Maine, has been selected to receive a $9.5 million loan to provide clean, low-cost renewable energy through wind power. Fox Islands provides power to 1,900 consumers in rural Maine on the Penobscot Bay via submarine cable to the mainland, where electric rates range from two to seven times the national average. When the Fox Islands project is complete, it will be the largest coastal wind-power facility in New England and the second-largest facility on the East Coast.
Below is a complete list of the selected borrowers. Funding of each loan recipient is contingent upon the recipient meeting the conditions of the loan agreement.
Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas:
Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation; $40,000,000 loan
Colorado and Nebraska:
Highline Electric Association; $4,121,000 loan
Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming:
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.; $102,511,000 loan
Florida:
West Florida Electric Cooperative Association, Inc.; $19,845,000 loan
Talquin Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $47,571,000 loan
Idaho and Montana:
Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $17,837,000 loan
Idaho, Nevada, and Utah:
Raft River Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $7,225,000 loan
Illinois:
Monroe County Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $7,000,000 loan
Iowa:
Southwest Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative; $6,000,000 loan
Kansas:
Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $10,600,000 loan
Flint Hills Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Inc.; $5,000,000 loan
The Lane-Scott Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $9,860,000 loan
Kentucky:
Big Sandy Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation; $10,397,000 loan
East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc.; $140,716,000 loan
Grayson Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation; $16,438,000 loan
Louisiana:
Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Corporation; $71,247,000 loan
Northeast Louisiana Power Cooperative, Inc.; $9,200,000 loan
Maine:
Fox Islands Wind, LLC; $9,500,000 loan
Minnesota:
Stearns Cooperative Electric Association; $20,000,000 loan
Crow Wing Cooperative Power and Light Company; $28,000,000 loan
Mississippi:
Magnolia Electric Power Association; $31,000,000 loan
South Mississippi Electric Power Association; $55,663,000 loan
Missouri:
New-Mac Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $5,800,000 loan
Citizens Electric Corporation; $26,000,000 loan
North Carolina:
Central Electric Membership Corporation; $7,500,000 loan
Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation; $16,000,000 loan
North Dakota:
McLean Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $6,500,000 loan
North Dakota and Minnesota:
Square Butte Electric Cooperative; $13,235,000 loan
Ohio:
Consolidated Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $21,182,000 loan
Oklahoma:
Verdigris Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $15,246,000 loan
Northwest Oklahoma Electric Cooperative; $19,370,000 loan
Oklahoma and Texas:
Southwest Rural Electric Association, Inc.; $4,628,000 loan
Pennsylvania:
REA Energy Cooperative, Inc.; $17,850,000 loan
South Carolina:
Horry Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $118,935,000 loan
South Dakota:
Central Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $11,412,000 loan
Butte Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $13,331,000 loan
South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota:
Sioux Valley – Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $40,697,000 loan
South Dakota, Montana, and North Dakota:
Grand Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $10,890,000 loan
Tennessee:
Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative; $15,000,000 loan
Duck River Electric Membership Corporation; $47,500,000 loan
Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative; $13,000,000 loan
Texas:
Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $12,216,000 loan
Rusk County Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $13,164,000 loan
San Patricio Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $8,545,000 loan
Virginia:
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative; $24,000,000 loan
Wisconsin:
Jump River Electric Cooperative, Inc.; $4,000,000 loan
Last Updated ( Friday, 21 August 2009 )