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Contact:
Tracy Warren
Phone: 703-907-5746
Mobile: 703-517-3411
Washington, D.C., March 10, 2010 — National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO, Glenn English, joined Representative Clyburn (D-SC) and Senator Merkley (D-OR), along with a bicameral, bipartisan group of co-sponsors today to introduce the “Rural Energy Savings Program Act” that aims to spur new investments in efficiency by providing cooperatives access to low-interest loans through the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service.
Under the new program, the RUS will create a $4.9 billion loan program available to cooperatives with a zero percent interest rate. Cooperatives in turn will make this money available to consumer members in the form of micro-loans with an interest rate of no more than 3 percent, which can be paid back primarily through savings on their electric bills.
Participating cooperatives will be responsible for both the consumer loans and overseeing the efficiency investments. The co-op will absorb all risks for consumer repayment, which will be used to pay back the government.
"Co-ops are increasingly building efficiency into their long-term resource planning," explained NRECA CEO Glenn English. "People often call efficiency the ‘fifth fuel,’ but that concept will remain just a concept unless we find a way to make efficiency gains affordable for energy consumers."
"This program, if enacted, will eliminate the high up-front costs that have long been a barrier to investments in efficiency for many Americans," English said.
High construction costs and regulatory uncertainty have made building new power generation financially difficult. Substantial efficiency gains can help electric cooperatives find some of the capacity they need to ensure reliable, affordable power for their members.
An analysis of potential efficiency gains conducted by the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), a statewide organization of rural electric membership corporations, has shown that with a strong, coordinated investment in efficiency co-ops can avoid building new power generation.
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