"Advocates Seek To Boost Clean Energy Program In Latest Farm Bill Renewal"

"The Inflation Reduction Act offered bigger grants under a rural clean energy program. Now, advocates want Congress to bring the rest of the program in line with those ambitions as part of the latest Farm Bill reauthorization."

"Drew Bowman’s free-range turkeys don’t use much electricity.

Getting their meat to customers, though, from slaughter and processing to packaging and chilling, is an extremely energy-intensive process.

Rising electricity prices have been among the biggest factors driving up turkey farmers’ costs in recent years. Bowman, co-owner of Bowman & Landes Turkeys in New Carlisle, Ohio, is thankful for solar power.

Three solar arrays, including a 220-kilowatt system paid for in part with a $59,000 grant from the federal Rural Energy Assistance Program, or REAP, provide roughly half the farm’s electricity. That saves Bowman & Landes about $25,000 per year in energy costs."

Kathiann M. Kowalski reports for Energy News Network February 28, 2023.

Source: Energy News Network, 03/02/2023