(ConservativeFreePress.com) – On Tuesday, the Biden administration’s Department of Energy announced that over $350 million from the bipartisan infrastructure bill would be used for rural renewable energy projects.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters during a call that the $366 million would be in a total of 17 projects, 12 of which are on tribal lands. The projects are spread across 20 states. As she pointed out, these projects are going to showcase rural and remote communities as well as innovative approaches for deploying clean energy. She further pointed out that the technologies used are “scalable” and “replicable” and that they include everything ranging from building microgrids for community health centers that struggled with power loss, to new hydroelectric facilities to help offset expensive diesel fuel on tribal lands.
The department’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs director Wahleah Johns emphasized how valuable renewable energy was to tribal lands and pointed out that around 17,000 homes in tribal communities did not have access to electricity.
These projects were particularly important as they could help with energy security in remote communities. They would also encourage energy sovereignty and would ensure that families across the country would have electricity.
One of the projects that had been selected is going to be providing electricity for 300 Native American homes for the first time. Other projects are going to assist with offsetting high diesel costs in communities in Alaska.
Ali Zaidi, a White House climate adviser, connected the new projects with the White House’s goals regarding emissions being halved by 2030 in the country.
Copyright 2024, ConservativeFreePress.com
