Co-ops have scored important gains in funding for the Rural Utilities Service and baseload generation in a Senate agriculture appropriations bill, and NRECA CEO Glenn English is calling on co-op leaders to press hard for the Senate bill.
The bill, passed July 15 by the Senate Appropriations Committee, provides $6.5 billion for the Rural Utilities Service Electric Loan Program in fiscal 2011, thwarting the Obama administration’s attempt to slash the program by $2.5 billion.
Following the lead of its agriculture subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., the full committee also rejected the administration’s attempt to curtail RUS lending for natural gas facilities and environmental upgrades to existing power plants.
“Diminishing rural electric cooperatives’ access to Rural Utilities Service loan programs will further disadvantage rural residents by raising user rates and undermining service reliability,” the committee said in a report accompanying the legislation.
The bill heads to a conference with a House committee plan, and English said co-op leaders should solicit their elected officials’ support for the Senate version.
“We have worked hard with our supporters in Congress to ensure the RUS program retains its historic mission to serve rural America,” he said. “We are urging our members to express their support for these Senate committee provisions that will help keep electricity reliable and affordable.”
The appropriations legislation, which provides spending for a wide range of federal agriculture and nutrition programs, also re-opens RUS lending for baseload facilities for up to three demonstration projects at a cost of as much as $1.5 billion.
Source: Electric Cooperative Today (July 16, 2010)
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