Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association has been selected for a $50,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture to help farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses make energy-efficiency improvements to their operations. PVREA hopes to assist 140 rural businesses and 60 agricultural producers with energy audits through this project.
Each business will fund 25 percent of the audit cost with PVREA adding 50 percent.The USDA grant will cover the remaining 25 percent. Total cost of the program is $200,000. Funding of each recipient is contingent upon the recipient meeting the conditions for the grant.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that PVREA is among 10 projects nationwide selected for funding to help rural small businesses and agricultural producers reduce energy consumption and implement renewable energy technologies.
“We must become more efficient with the energy we use,” Vilsack said in a prepared statement. “These grants not only have the direct benefit of making these recipients more efficient, but they offer a roadmap for how others can apply the lessons learned from these audits.”
PVREA is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative serving more than 35,000 consumer-members in Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties.
For more information about these or any other energy-saving services offered by PRVEA, go to www.pvrea.com.