$3.2B in funding frozen for Colorado rural electric co-ops, Tri-State
Nearly $3.2 billion in grants and loans to six Colorado rural electric cooperatives and the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association are in limbo as the Trump administration has frozen disbursements.
The awards were part of the $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America program, or New ERA, an initiative in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Details about the awards have been removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website.
The awards were made in September by the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, which is administering the New ERA program. All grants and loans are under a review lasting at least 90 days.
The funds are aimed at helping utilities close coal-fired power plants, add more renewable generation to their portfolios and cut greenhouse gas emissions — activities the Trump administration has criticized.
The Jan. 27 memo ordering the freeze said “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The memo followed President Donald Trump’s Unleashing American Energy executive order, which includes a section entitled “terminating the green new deal.”
The “green new deal” was a 2021 plan and legislation promoted by progressive politicians such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, but it was not adopted by the Biden administration
The largest Colorado New ERA award, $2.5 billion in grants and low-interest loans, went to Westminster-based Tri-State, which provides wholesale power to 41 cooperatives in four states including 16 in Colorado.
The funding would help finance the closing of 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired plants in Arizona, New Mexico and the Craig Station in Colorado.
The money also would aid Tri-State in building or purchasing 1,380 megawatts of solar and wind generation and battery storage across its service territory, which includes rural portions of Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.
“Tri-State has been awarded USDA New ERA funding, as we have executed our commitment letter,” the association said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our members and advocate to the administration and Congressional delegation.”
The other award recipients have also been circumspect in their comments about the freeze.
The second largest award, $262 million, was to Brighton-based United Power, the the No. 2 co-op in the state, serving about 300,000 people in an area from Commerce City through Adams and Weld counties.
The funding was designed to offset United Power’s cost of transitioning to a clean energy portfolio, including power purchase agreements for more than 760 megawatts of renewable resources.
Trista Fugate, a spokesperson for United Power, said in an email that the cooperation is monitoring the situation.
CORE Electric Cooperative, the state’s largest co-op, serving more than 375,000 residents in parts of 11 counties from west of Colorado Springs to east of Denver, was awarded $225 million.
The funding is to be used to secure power purchase agreements for approximately 550 megawatts of wind, solar and battery storage.
“We do not have any comments at this time as we are working with federal partners to clarify these announcements,” Amber King, a CORE spokesperson, said in an email.
Four other small Colorado electric cooperatives are also waiting on awards.
Granby-based Mountain Parks Electric received an agreement for $100 million over 20 years, with an immediate award of $9.7 million.
In the Jan. 16 statement announcing the award, Mountain Parks said “some aspects of the IRA may be subject to spending cuts under the new federal administration. However, it is important to note that the USDA’s New ERA program is a continuation of a nearly 100-year-old financing partnership.”
Yampa Valley Electric, located in Steamboat Springs, is in line for $50 million to procure 150 megawatts of solar energy and 75 megawatts of battery energy storage for northwestern Colorado and southwestern Wyoming.
Grand Valley Rural Power Lines, headquartered in Grand Junction, was awarded $13 million for a Delta County solar project. San Miguel Power Association, which serves parts of the southwestern corner of the state, received $9.8 million for a solar facility in Montrose County.
“Colorado co-ops were successful in receiving commitments of loan and grant funds … to support a reliable and resilient electric grid and we support the disbursement of those funds,” Kent Singer executive director of the Colorado Rural Electric Association, which represents 22 of the state’s co-ops, said in a statement.
In the final months of President Joe Biden’s administration, the USDA pushed billions of dollars in New ERA funds out the door. In December it issued $4.37 billion in grants and loans, including those to CORE, United Power, Yampa Valley and San Miguel.
On Jan. 10, the Biden administration announced more than $1.3 billion in awards, including the one to Mountain Parks. It also said the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association and San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative could go forward with their applications for funds.
“New ERA funding is an important tool to help electric co-ops provide affordable and reliable electricity into the future,” the National Electric Rural Cooperative Association, which represents 900 co-ops across the country, said in a statement.
“We understand the administration’s desire to reexamine and prioritize efficient and effective government spending,” the association said. “We look forward to continuing our discussions with this administration on how electric co-ops are leveraging New ERA and other federal programs to promote American energy dominance.”
Even if funds are eventually restored, damage will have been done, said Mike Kruger, executive director of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, a trade group.
“Certainly nothing good comes from this,” Kruger said. “Projects will be delayed. That will have impacts such as higher costs, layoffs and a delay in cleaning up our air and water. If you are looking for energy dominance, freezing everything is not the way to do it.”