New round of farm grants to promote energy efficiency for rural Kentucky businesses

A series of federal grants from the Rural Energy for America Program are helping rural businesses reduce their energy bills while increasing their environmental footprint.

$670,000 will go to 11 rural businesses to support their energy efficiency projects, including new solar installations, lighting or insulation.

Scott Maas is the USDA’s program director for Rural Business and Cooperative Services. He says most of the money is going to solar.

“We also do a variety of energy efficiency projects, from grain dryers to lighting, HVAC systems, insulation,” Maas said. “We use a variety of different replacements for energy efficiency, but solar is the most active right now.”

The full list of companies receiving funding includes:

• Barr Farms Organic Produce LLC (Breckinridge County)
• The Extra Mile LLC (Pike County)
• Canup Inc. (Jessamine County)
• Westside Farms LLC (Pulaski County)
• Denali Stud Inc. (Bourbon County)
• Stephen J. Powers (Hancock County)
• Thermalcell Insulation Inc. (Webster County)
• Kasteel’s Properties Inc. (Johnson County)
• Outland Farms LLC (Christian Province)
• Marlin David Miller (Franklin County)
• Solar Energy Life LLC (Laurel County)

Tom Carew, the USDA’s director of rural development for Kentucky, says the program is also intended to promote economic growth in rural areas.

“Rural Kentucky faces many, many challenges, as we all know, especially in the stubborn poverty counties,” Carew said. “So we can help the profitability of a company that operates in those communities.”

The deadline for the current REAP application cycle is September 30.

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