Governor Andy Beshear said Monday marked a historic day as the federal government announced a new era of funding for the state’s energy infrastructure.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service is giving the state more than $1 billion toward clean energy, distance learning and telemedicine.
Eighty-nine counties in the Commonwealth will benefit from this investment. USDA Utilities Service Administrator Andy Berke says this money will ultimately give people a better quality of life as the energy produced will be cleaner, the grid will be more reliable and energy be more affordable of east Kentucky.
Berke says this funding is possible because of the Inflation Reduction Act. East Kentucky Power Cooperative will get more than $670 million of it to construct 757 megawatts of renewable energy for rural areas among other things.
Representatives with East Kentucky Power Cooperative say in doing so, they will still be competitive and offer good rates.
The second part of Monday’s announcement is the more than $5 million that will go toward eight distance learning and telemedicine projects.
Leaders say they will announce and seek approval for the various projects this money will fund. The projects will also create hundreds of new jobs.
Source: WBKO
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