USDA's Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) Overview

Stephen Bolotin is a Public Affairs Advisor in the Washington D.C. office

The USDA's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides financial assistance in the form of grants and loan guarantees to agricultural producers and small business for purchasing and installing renewable energy systems and/or making energy efficiency improvements in rural locations. The scope of projects that REAP invests in are very broad: from energy audits to energy project development to installations. Unlike energy programs at the DOE, USDA does not have an appetite for assuming technology risk. While REAP aims to fund the deployment off-the-shelf, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies that benefit rural communities, the program has often been early adopters of de-risked technology. Projects can incorporate energy storage as a component of a renewable energy system. Grid management technologies are looked upon favorably by REAP program officials, so long as the