Biden visiting Wisconsin to highlight investment in rural electric co-ops

President Joe Biden will travel to western Wisconsin Thursday to highlight new clean energy funding for rural electric cooperatives.

Biden will visit Westby to meet with leaders of Dairyland Power Cooperative. It’s one of 16 cooperatives receiving a total of $7.3 billion for renewable energy projects through the Empowering Rural America, or New ERA, program, which is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Ahead of the visit, U.S Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on a call with reporters that the new funding is expected to lower energy costs for approximately 5 million households, or around 20 percent of the country’s rural residents.

“This is an opportunity, over the next 10 years, to lower the cost of electricity for the customers of Dairyland Cooperative by nearly 42 percent,” Vilsack said, adding that the Wisconsin project will buy power from four new solar and four new wind projects.

This will be Biden’s first trip to Wisconsin since dropping out of the presidential race. He last visited the state in July.

His return to the state comes as part of a series of visits to “blue wall” states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, to tout his administration’s accomplishments ahead of the November election.

The president last visited the Driftless Area in 2021 to promote what would become the bipartisan infrastructure law in La Crosse. Biden used the 2021 trip to talk about the legislation’s investments in public transit, bridges and replacing lead pipes.

“When he returns tomorrow, he will have delivered on so many of those promises,” Natalie Quillian, White House deputy chief of staff, said on a call with reporters. 

Dairyland Power, which also serves parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, will receive a $471 million grant and $102 million loan through the New ERA program.

The project will cost a total of $2.1 billion and will develop 1,080 megawatts of renewable energy, reducing the cooperative’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 3 million tons annually and increasing their use of renewable energy by 45 percent.

Dairyland will also develop a Farmer Benefit Plan, laying out terms for farmers who host renewable energy projects on their land, as well as a separate plan to outline apprenticeship and workforce training opportunities.