Biden in Wisconsin visit to announce largest rural electrification investment since 1930s

President Joe Biden is expected on Thursday to announce more than $7.3 billion in financing for electrification of rural America — the largest such investment since the 1930s — during a visit to western Wisconsin.

The funding comes from the New ERA program of the Inflation Reduction Act, which the White House said represents the largest financial boost to rural electrification since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.

On Tuesday, Biden touted the success of his administration's "Investing in America" infrastructure platform during the first of several planned talks on the topic Tuesday afternoon. The president said his energy platform set several records, including 16 million new jobs, small business growth and gains in the stock market.

The grants to these rural electric cooperatives — consumer-owned utilities that were established to provide reliable and affordable electricity — is expected to finance clean energy to approximately 5 million rural co-op members representing 20% of rural households, farms, businesses and schools.

The 16 cooperatives selected will benefit farmers, small businesses, and rural communities across Wisconsin and 22 other states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

“It's the largest investment in rural electrification since FDR’s administration and will spur economic development and lower costs for millions of Americans,” said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian.

Quillian added that the financial infusion will create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs. The program leverages private funds to secure $29 billion in new rural investments and to help the rural electric cooperatives.

The awardees will help reduce and avoid at least 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, equivalent to removing more than 10 million cars off the road every year, according to the White House.

In La Crosse, Wisconsin, for example, Dairyland Power Cooperative is receiving the first New Empowering Rural America award of nearly $573 million. Dairyland plans to procure 1,080 megawatts of renewable energy through eight wind and solar power purchase agreements, four solar installations, and four wind power installations across rural portions of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois.

Dairyland estimates that electric rates for their members will be 42% lower over 10 years than they would have been without the New ERA funding.

"The reality is the savings to our members will be more than $130 million," said Brent Ridge, president and CEO of Dairyland.

The project will deliver power to around 240,000 homes and reduce carbon emissions by 70%, according to the cooperative. The total investment, offset by the grant, will be around $3 billion.

Construction of the solar and wind sites could begin in the next six months, although locations have not been finalized, according to Ridge.

"They may pivot but will be located in our four states," he said.

Biden is expected to deliver his remarks at 3 p.m. at the nearby community of Westby.

Other recipients include Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc., which operates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The grant will allow Allegheny to meet over 80% of its power requirements from carbon-free resources by 2026 and reduce pollution and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 100,000 tons annually.

Rural electrification transformed America

One of the most profound changes in America began 85 years ago when electricity was extended to the countryside. As part of an economic stimulus package, Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, spurring the deployment of electric power even in places far off the grid.

It was a cornerstone of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program, allowing the federal government to make low-interest loans to farmers who had banded together to form not-for-profit electric cooperatives. Assistance was needed because running wires into areas with few homes per mile wasn't profitable for private investors.

At the time, power companies said it was their right to serve rural areas, where it suited them, because they had pioneered the industry. They slammed the cooperatives as "socialist and anti-American," author Sharon O'Malley wrote in a history article for the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association.

Farmers argued they should be allowed to electrify the countryside because the power companies had ignored them for more than a decade. Wisconsin was at the forefront of the controversy; farmers even started their own newspaper, Wisconsin REA News, to counter a massive advertising campaign the companies were running against them.

Eventually, both sides played a near equal role in bringing electricity to rural areas.

And with it, lives were transformed.

Farmers could do barn chores later in the evening or before dawn. Cooking on smoky wood stoves, pumping water by hand, reading by kerosene lamps, all mostly became things of the past. Even rural health care improved as doctors’ offices finally had the electric power that had become commonplace in cities.

Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Biden in Wisconsin announcing rural electrification effort