USDA Finances Wind for Rural Economic Development USDA Finances Wind for Rural Economic Development

Success: Section 9006 Program 

• Direct financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and rural 

small businesses 

• Grants can fund up to 25% of wind projects

• In first two years, the 9006 program awarded $15.3 million in 

grants to rural wind projects leading to more than $110 

million in small and community-scale wind projects.

What’s New?

Starting this summer, the program will offer loan guarantees 

and will simplify the application process for small projects.

Who should be interested?

• Developers of projects in rural areas (population 

under 50,000) or projects that will serve rural 

customers

• Governments, tribes, or non-profits investigating 

bringing wind energy to a rural community

• Rural Electric Cooperatives interested in 

developing wind

• Anyone interested in installing wind in rural areas.

USDA has many other programs that can be used to support wind development:

Rural Electrification Loans

• Available to any wind project that provides power to rural 

areas, regardless of ownership or location of project

• Provides loans at U.S. Treasury interest rates for terms up 

to 35 years. Current rate for 10-year loans is 4.19%

• The Rural Utility Service (RUS) grants priority to the first 

$200 million in renewable energy projects each year

• With lending authority of up to $4 billion per year, this 

program is intended to provide electrical service to rural 

areas. Any wind project that sells power to rural areas, 

such as via a contract with a rural generation and 

transmission entity, is eligible for this financing. A variety of 

ownership structures are eligible, including corporations, 

tribes, cooperatives, or RUS-financed utilities.

Business and Industry Guaranteed Loans

• For rural wind projects that do not qualify for Rural 

Electrification Loans, this program can guarantee loans 

of up to $25 million at or near prime rates

• With lending authority of up to $840 million annually, this 

loan guarantee program can benefit a wind project by 

making it more attractive to lenders. As a result of reduced

lender risk, it also often improves the provisions of the 

project loan with longer loan terms and lower interest rates 

• Eligible borrowers include corporations, cooperatives, 

municipalities and counties, tribes, trusts, and individuals.

Most financial institutions are eligible to participate as 

lenders

• Lending program requires collateral.

High Energy Cost Grant Program

• This program can provide grants to install 

small or distributed-scale wind projects in 

areas without existing grid access.

• Funded at around $11 million annually, this 

program is designed to provide power to 

areas with extremely high energy costs (more 

than 275% of the state average)

•Grants can be used to pay up to the full cost 

of a project, and grant requests must be for at 

least $75,000

• Applicant should demonstrate that project will 

result in a significant reduction in local energy 

costs.

Project Financing

Value Added Producer Grants

• Available for any agricultural producer, or for any business 

or cooperative with majority ownership by producers

• This program provides grants of up to $100,000 that may 

be used for planning purposes, including resource 

assessments, feasibility studies, marketing and business 

plans, and legal evaluations

• This highly competitive program is funded at around 

$14 million annually and is well suited for the earlier 

stages of wind project development 

• Grant proposals that can demonstrate benefits for larger 

groups of producers, such as cooperatives, will receive 

higher priority.

Rural Business Enterprise Grants

• Program is focused on supporting the development of ailing rural 

economies through new businesses enterprises. Emphasis is on 

job creation

• The grants are made to public bodies, tribes, or nonprofit 

corporations that serve rural areas 

• This very competitive program annually provides $43 million in grants

to these intermediaries to support small, emerging businesses, such

as a cooperative formed to build a community-scale wind project

• Recipients may use the funds to create revolving loan funds or to 

conduct resource assessments or other feasibility studies that 

benefit the creation or expansion of local businesses related to wind 

development

Project Planning

Rural Business Opportunity Grants

• This grant program could be used by a rural community to investigate wind development or industry as a means for rural economic

development

• Funded at $3 million, this highly competitive grant program provides startup capital for promoting economic development in rural 

communities 

• Available to non-profits, public bodies, tribes, and rural cooperatives, this program provides grants of up to $50,000 to conduct 

economic development planning, to develop training for entrepreneurs, to identify and analyze business opportunities, and provide 

technical assistance to local businesses

For detailed information about these 

programs contact:

Your state USDA Rural Development office at:

www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill/contacts.html

Your USDA Rural Utility Service contact at:

www.usda.gov/rus/electric/contacts/field.shtml

Economic Development

More than $4 billion 

in programs

Charles Newcomb, Terri Walters Charles Newcomb, Terri Walters 

USDA is focused on helping Rural America develop wind projects:

10-year loans at 4.19%

The information contained in this poster is subject to a 

government license.

Prepared for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) 

WindPower 2005 Conference, 15-18 May 2005, Denver, CO

NREL/PO-500-38135