The United States omnibus spending bill for the financial year 2018, signed by President Donald Trump in March this year, allocates $6.25 billion to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for electric loans.

As part of this funding, USDA has announced it is investing $309 million in 16 selected projects to improve rural electric infrastructure in 12 states, the press release states.

The announced loans are being made through USDA’s Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee program, which helps finance generation, transmission and distribution projects, system improvements, and energy conservation projects in communities with 10,000 or fewer residents, reports USDA.

USDA is funding infrastructure improvements for utilities in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Washington.

Source: USDA