USDA: Loan program to upgrade rural electricity in Missouri, other states
Upgrading electric infrastructure in northwest Missouri is one goal of federal loans announced Wednesday to pump $3.6 billion into rural electrification projects nationwide.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Savannah, Mo., to announce the loan program, which he said would help utilities and rural cooperatives in 31 states to launch new “energy efficiency projects, renewable fuel systems and smart grid technologies.”
Officials said Missouri’s United Electric Cooperative, with offices in Savannah and Maryville, will receive a $28 million loan to build or improve 168 miles of electric line and develop smart grid projects. United Electric provides power to 11 counties in northwest Missouri and southwest Iowa.
Other energy providers receiving loans include Pratt, Kan.-based Ninnescah Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Barry Electric Cooperative in southwest Missouri, and the Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative.
Nationwide, the loans will benefit 82 projects, adding or upgrading 12,500 miles of rural electric transmission and distribution lines, Vilsack said.
Rick Montgomery: 816-234-4410, @rmontgomery_r
This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "USDA: Loan program to upgrade rural electricity in Missouri, other states."