The funding will be provided to projects financed through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) in all states, as well as in the Virgin Islands, the Western Pacific and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Of the total funding, around $6m will be provided to 17 anaerobic digesters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. These projects will generate 906KWh of clean energy in total which will be enough to power over 83,675 homes annually, by reducing 455,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Around 1,100 rural small businesses and agricultural producers will be able to reduce energy usage and costs in their operations, through the funding.
USDA Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said: "This funding will help incorporate renewable energy and energy efficiency technology and reduce energy costs. But beyond the local benefits seen by a company saving energy costs and the global benefits of reducing carbon emissions, this funding will also create American jobs by supporting energy production and efficiency installations that are made in rural America."
Fresh Air Energy XVI is the highest beneficiary, receiving $3.8m in loan, which will be used to finance a 6.5MW solar array in Greene County, North Carolina.
The energy produced at the solar project will be enough to power 1,000 average-sized homes for a year.
Since the start of the Obama administration , REAP funded 10,753 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that have reduced energy costs for rural businesses nationwide.
