The Agriculture Department has announced $122 million in funding for seven projects to expand and upgrade rural electric infrastructure systems across five states.
The investment comes through the Electric Loan Program, which finances the construction of electric infrastructure and electrical service improvements in rural areas.
The improvements include building or improving 964 miles of electric line and should benefit more than 6,200 business and residential customers in Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Those states also will benefit from $7 million to finance smart-grid technologies, which include computer applications, geospatial information systems and other tools that “improve system operations and monitor grid security.”
The projects are driven by decisions made by an Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, which President Trump launched in April 2017 to promote prosperity in rural communities