What Georgia’s electric cooperatives will do with $1B in new federal loans

Seven electric membership cooperatives serving rural areas in Georgia are slated to receive nearly $1 billion in infrastructure loans from the federal government.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced the loans earlier this week as part of a larger pot of $6.3 billion across 44 states to support grid reliability, clean energy and clean drinking water.

“The Biden-Harris Administration invests in rural America, because we know strong communities are rooted in their people,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. “These investments will build modern infrastructure that will attract employers to the nation’s smallest towns and most remote communities, creating jobs, vibrant Main Streets, and lasting economic growth for the people who live there.”

In Georgia, the largest loan — $368 million — will go to the Sawnee Electric Membership Corp. based in Cumming, which serves nearly 200,000 members across parts of seven counties in northern metro Atlanta. The loan will be used to connect thousands of new customers and improve infrastructure, including adding so-called “smart grid” technologies that manage the flow of electricity more efficiently.

Kim Broun, a spokesperson for Georgia EMC, the trade group representing the state’s cooperatives, said the loans are standard work plan loans.

“They are designed for the financing of routine construction, improvement and maintenance of rural electric infrastructure and are routinely awarded to EMCs for rural development,” she said in an email.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the role of Georgia EMC.

Note of disclosure

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