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Israel announces wave of strikes on Tehran after Trump demands Iran's unconditional surrender; NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court; Federal bill would dim rooftop solar's future, says Michigan CEO; Despite known Iowa nitrate risks, EPA focuses on fluoride; Georgia's Macon-Bibb County launches justice reform plan.

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Trump's big budget and policy act faces pushback from clean energy advocates and small businesses. A federal court weighs legality of deploying the California National Guard over the governor's objections. And ICE detains a New York mayoral candidate.

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EV charging stations are harder to find in rural America, improving the mental health of children and teachers is the goal of a new partnership in seven rural states, and a once segregated Mississippi movie theater is born again.

Tri-State to lower customer energy costs by $400 million over 20 years

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Tuesday, September 17, 2024   

Colorado's second-largest electricity provider, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, projects new federal clean energy funding will lower costs to Tri-State ratepayers by $420 million over the next 20 years.

Jeremy Fisher, principal adviser for climate and energy at the Sierra Club, said many urban customers are already benefiting from less costly wind and solar power, largely generated in wide-open, rural spaces.

"While that can be great for jobs and has been fantastic economic development opportunities, a lot of rural customers haven't actually seen those direct benefits accrue to their bills," Fisher pointed out.

Tri-State is one of 16 rural electric cooperatives selected to get a chunk of more than $7 billion allocated through the Biden administration's Empowering Rural America Program, the largest investment in rural electrification since the Great Depression.

The cooperative plans to replace 1,100 megawatts of coal-fired electricity with wind, solar and battery storage. The plan would also cut nearly six tons of climate pollution, the equivalent of tailpipe pollution from 1.4 million gas-powered cars, each year.

Tri-State is set to receive up to $679 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-directed program. Fisher noted the utility has committed up to $70 million to support Moffat County communities, including the town of Craig, where Unit Three of Tri-State's coal plant will close by 2028.

"I think Tri-State has been a leading entity in really pursuing ways of engaging with the communities that are impacted by those closures," Fisher acknowledged. "To ensure that there's employment benefit and financial benefit flowing to those communities."

Fisher believes the program will ensure electric co-ops like Tri-State can remain competitive and resilient, and keep good-paying clean energy jobs in rural communities.

"Leading utilities are stepping up to the plate and have put forward ambitious plans that will be transformational to those communities, and transformational to these energy systems," Fisher concluded.

Disclosure: The Sierra Club contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, and Environmental Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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