USDA Invests $317M in Reliable Power Grid

USDA Invests $317 Million to Expand Affordable, Reliable Power in Rural Florida Communities

GAINESVILLE, FL – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) Florida State Director Lakeisha Hood Moїse announced today that USDA will invest $317,400,000 to strengthen rural Florida’s power grid and ensure that 32,000 people have access to reliable electricity.

“Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to helping them create a path toward a cleaner, more sustainable future by investing in renewable energy technologies and modern infrastructure that will create lasting economic prosperity that benefits everyone,” said Hood Moїse. “It also delivers on the President’s promise to strengthen rural America’s energy security.”

This investment comes from USDA RD’s Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, which makes insured loans and loan guarantees to help rural cooperatives and utilities build and improve rural electric infrastructure and increase electric grid reliability and security.

In central Florida, Sumter Electric Cooperative Inc. will use $317 million to build and improve more than 1,000 miles of power lines and connect 32,000 customers to reliable electricity. Nearly $5 million from this investment will be used to help the cooperative advance its smart grid technologies and install 38.4 miles of fiber line.

Sumter Electric Coop is headquartered in Sumterville, Florida, and provides electricity to an average of 226,501 consumers over 13,330 miles of distribution line in the counties of Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy, Marion, Pasco and Sumter.