Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with the Oklahoma State Director of USDA Rural Development, Kenneth Corn, and talked about grant opportunities opening up in October through the Rural Energy for America Program.
The REAP program is aimed to help ag producers and small businesses in rural areas save money on their energy costs, lessen the demand on the energy grid, and ensure a cleaner environment.
The application period will open on October 1, Corn said, and close on December 31. Through the REAP program, Corn said ag producers and small businesses in communities under 50,000 have the chance to receive funding for up to 50 percent of a project relating to energy efficiency or renewables.
Regarding small businesses that may quality, Corn said the program uses the Small Business Administration’s metric to determine what is considered a small business.
“Milo’s Tea here is considered a small business and they actually received one of the grants in the last go around,” Corn said. “For ag producers, it is any ag producer that can show that 50 percent of their income comes from the farm.”
For those interested in applying for the REAP Program, Corn said he recommends first reading the fact sheet provided at https://www.rd.usda.gov/ok.
For application information, click here.
“In Stillwater, we had a small business there that put solar panels on their roof so they could get off the grid some and lower their energy cost that way,” Corn said. “We have had ag producers who have applied to put windmills out on their farms to help generate electricity.”
Corn said one example of ways individuals could take advantage of this program is by improving insulation in their business or operation to reduce energy usage.
“As long as you can get an assessment that shows it is going to lower your cost of doing business, by lowering your energy usage, it will probably qualify,” Corn said.
If the money allocated for use in Oklahoma is not spent by applicants, Corn said it will be used somewhere else.
“All Oklahomans benefit from this because when we lessen the demand on the electric grid, it lessens the cost for all Oklahomans because part of your electric bill is figured on what the demand is on the system,” Corn said.
