Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Sorted by date Results 1 - 9 of 9
Rural communities looking to improve electricity reliability and affordability may be eligible for support through the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership. The program, offered through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, provides funding and technical assistance to help eligible communities build, operate, or improve microgrid systems. Proposals are due July 2 and may include requests of $200,000 to $575,000 and up to 24 months of technical assistance. Projects must s...
Senior policy associate Center for Rural Affairs Across the country, farmers, landowners, and rural communities are taking a closer look at how solar development can work alongside agriculture instead of competing with it. Agrivoltaics, or dual-use solar, is growing interest as people look for ways to keep land productive, support conservation, and create new opportunities. Agrivoltaics includes beneficial practices such as growing crops beneath panels, grazing livestock on solar sites, and the...
A U.S. Department of Agriculture program is helping producers turn raw commodities into value-added products, allowing more of the income to remain in rural communities. The Value-Added Producer Grant program, administered by USDA Rural Development, supports agricultural producers, as well as farmer and rancher cooperatives, that want to start or expand value-added activities. Producers can apply for up to $50,000 in planning grants or up to $200,000 in working capital grants. Applications are...
Federal resources benefit all Nebraskans, funding essential services like education, health care, infrastructure, and disaster recovery. However, recent actions by the current administration have put rural programs at risk, including those supporting agriculture and energy. Disruptions to federal funding, including those initiated by President Trump’s Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy, pose a risk to rural communities. For example, in July 2024, the Nebraska Department of E...
Agricultural producers looking to expand their operations through value-added products are encouraged to apply for a Value Added Producer Grant. Applications will be accepted through April 17. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced $30 million in funding for the VAPG program, which provides grants for producers, as well as farmer and rancher cooperatives. The funding can be used to generate new products and create or expand marketing opportunities that help producers...
The targeted investments of the Inflation Reduction Act have real-world impacts that are hard to ignore. Since its passage in August 2022, the IRA has been quietly bringing tangible benefits to Nebraska's farms, public schools, small businesses and families. In July 2024, Nebraska's Department of Environment and Energy was awarded $307 million in IRA funding to implement measures outlined in the state's priority action plan. These funds will assist Nebraska producers in implementing advanced liv...
Public school administrators and board of education members across the country face tough decisions when it comes to addressing how to pay for the repair or replacement of aging equipment, vehicles and infrastructure. The direct-pay provision in the Inflation Reduction Act enables schools and other tax-exempt groups to receive certain clean energy and climate-related tax credits as direct cash refunds from the Internal Revenue System. Entities can receive up to 30% of a clean energy project’s co...
Renewable energy development, energy conservation and energy efficiency improvements offer an opportunity for rural communities to save money, become more energy-resilient and increase the reliability of the electric grid. While many Nebraska communities are interested in such improvements, the upfront costs associated with energy-related projects have often been initially prohibitive, until now. The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced a funding opportunity for Nebraska communities....
Significant snow, wind, and brutally cold temperatures impacted Nebraska in January. Given the frequency of extreme weather events experienced across the U.S. during the past several years, preparing for emergencies is an important consideration for utilities and regulators. Extreme weather events have an outsized impact on the electric grid and show the necessity of protecting its integrity and resiliency. Between Jan. 8 and 17, large portions of Nebraska spent more than 80 consecutive hours...
