A new federal rule set to take effect this week could make it harder for Illinois farmers to get help funding renewable energy projects.
The regulations will require farmers to complete projects and document a year of energy savings before applying for funding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the changes are intended to streamline its Rural Energy for America Program and ensure funding decisions reflect actual project performance.
Chad Hughes, senior associate attorney, Environmental Law and Policy Center, said requiring farmers to cover costs up front could put federal assistance out of reach for smaller operations.
"Only those that can afford to carry those costs for over a year without knowing whether or not they're going to be reimbursed are going to be able to apply for REAP. So it's going to make the program just much less accessible," Hughes contended.
The changes, which also limit wind projects on certified cropland, take effect Oct. 16. Farmers and rural businesses can submit comments through Nov. 2 at Regulations.gov. The new guidelines follow earlier USDA policy changes limiting solar funding and were applied retroactively to pending applications.
The Environmental Law and Policy Center sued the agency in September, arguing the policy conflicts with Congress' intent for the REAP program to support the projects. Hughes argued the USDA cannot restrict renewable energy because of the current administration's preference for fossil fuels.
"The law has these basic principles of fairness baked in. You can't just change the rules in the middle of the game like that unless you have a really good reason to do so, and USDA just has not identified such reason," Hughes stressed.
The USDA said it is working to protect farmland, safeguard taxpayer dollars and keep components from foreign adversaries out of federally supported projects. But Hughes countered none of the goals help farmers who have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, engineering and other costs, which had qualified for reimbursement under previous rules.
"Now suddenly they're finding out that, hey, that $60,000 that you thought was going to come through from the government that, over the course of 20 years, this program has worked, and the money's always come through for farmers, well, this time it's not because USDA is abruptly changing the rules of the game after you already applied," Hughes emphasized.
Between 2023 and 2025, REAP supported nearly 7,000 projects and drove an estimated $2.75 billion in rural economic development. A USDA report showed that in 2024 alone, the bipartisan program generated or saved enough energy to power more than 300,000 homes.
Illinois News Connection originally published this story.
