On July 14, the House Agriculture Committee cleared a measure that would enable co-ops to play a leading role in upgrading energy efficiency in rural America and control their members’ energy bills.

On a bipartisan voice vote, the panel approved H.R. 4785, the “Rural Energy Savings Program Act,” also known as Rural Star. The legislation authorizes a $4.9 billion loan pool through the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for co-ops to defray the upfront costs of their members’ energy-related improvements.

NRECA CEO Glenn English praised the vote and said the Rural Star program could lead to savings on monthly bills and forestall some of the need for additional, more expensive generating facilities.

“The Rural Energy Savings Program Act represents an innovative and common-sense approach that is tailored to the unique needs of rural America,” English said. “Because of a variety of factors, prices for electricity are going to up in the future. This program will help to hold down those increases.”

The legislation would enable co-ops or statewide groups of co-ops to obtain interest-free loans from RUS, and then provide micro-loans for residential and small business improvements, such as insulation, HVAC systems, boilers and roofs. Appliances are not covered by the program.

The loans would be repaid by the savings on the electric bill.

Supporters estimate the legislation could create nearly 26,000 jobs and make loans available to 1.1 billion to 1.6 billion rural households. It is based on a similar program developed by co-ops in South Carolina and Midwest Energy, Hays, Kansas.

The committee’s vote authorizes the program; the estimated $993 million needed to run the program would have to be appropriated.