The Biden administration is expected to announce more than $7 billion in grants to build renewable energy projects in rural communities. 

Provided by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Democrats and signed by President Joe Biden, the money would go to 16 rural electric cooperatives to build or purchase a range of projects, such as wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower, and battery storage. The funds, leveraged with $29 billion in private investments, would be meant to build more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy across the rural areas. 

The president, along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, is expected to deliver the news Thursday afternoon during a visit to Wisconsin, a swing state in the presidential election.

The Agriculture Department said the grants represent the largest clean energy investment in rural communities since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the New Deal into law.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we are supporting a more prosperous future for rural communities by speeding up the transition to clean energy while at the same time keeping monthly bills low and investing in the American workforce with new jobs and apprenticeships,” Vilsack said in a written statement. “One in five rural Americans will benefit from these clean energy investments, thanks to partnerships with rural electric cooperatives like Dairyland. Put simply, this is rural power, for rural America.”

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Rural areas often lag in terms of clean energy and electrification. For example, although many Midwestern and rural states have larger spans of driving range and lack public transportation, many lack electric charging infrastructure to support electric vehicles.  

The projects are meant to reduce and avoid at least 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, the equivalent of removing more than 10 million cars off the road each year.