Feds offer clean energy grants for rural business

If you happen to run a small business in a rural area and you need cash to do an energy efficiency project, you should read the rest of this post.

That’s because the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program is willing to pay for up to 25 percent of the cost of qualifying projects, up to $250,000. If you need to borrow the rest, the good people at REAP will guarantee a loan from a private lender for the remaining 75 percent of the project cost.

As with all government programs, this one has rules and definitions. You can get the overview of the grants and the loans here. For details about your state, go here.

The most notable things are what the USDA means by rural (a place with fewer than 50,000 population), small business (fewer than 500 employees and $6.5 million in revenue) and energy efficiency projects (generally “commercially available” upgrades to existing facilities, though some emerging technologies are eligible.) All the favorites–lighting, insulation, heating and cooling systems–certainly qualify.

Grants can be as small as $1,500 and, as mentioned above, as large as a quarter-million dollars.

Similar guidelines apply for REAP’s renewable energy grants and loans. This pdf offers a great overview of both the loan and grant programs for energy efficiency and renewable systems.

The application deadline for the federal funds is June 30.

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