U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced that USDA will pause accepting Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) applications for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). IRA applications are those requesting federal grant funding of up to 50 percent of total eligible project costs. The last day to submit a new IRA application for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 funding will be December 31, 2024, at 4:30 PM local time in the respective applicant’s time zone. This decision was made due to the continued overwhelming response to the funding opportunities made possible by IRA.
USDA will close the REAP FY 2025 IRA funding opportunity earlier than anticipated as over 3,000 applications have already been received, requesting more than twice the amount of the announced available funding. This decision will allow USDA time to dedicate the necessary resources and attention to the growing backlog of applications.
Additionally, USDA will not withdraw any FY 2024 IRA applications that have not been fully processed by December 31, 2024. The Agency will continue to process the remaining IRA FY 2024 applications and FY 2025 applications received by December 31, 2024.
Applications that are fully processed, complete and eligible will compete for available funding.
This decision does not affect FY 2025 applications submitted for Farm Bill funding. Farm Bill applications are those requesting federal grant funding of up to 25 percent of total eligible project costs. These applications can be submitted through March 31, 2025.
USDA anticipates accepting both REAP IRA and Farm Bill applications again starting on July 1, 2025, for Fiscal Year 2026 funding.
USDA appreciates your continued support and interest in the Rural Energy for America Program.
For any further inquiries regarding this announcement please contact your State Energy Coordinator.
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