By : Christine Steele
Source : http://www.scsun-news.com
Category : Small Business Grant
A new solar project on the Bar VK Ranch, south of Silver City, will save rancher Gerald "Billy" Billings, $130 a month, plus gives him an additional $130 a month for the electricity it produces.
With the help of funding from USDA Rural Development, Billings had a 42-panel solar panel array built that produces enough electricity to run a submersible pump that supplies water to roughly 18 stock tanks to help water his 200 head of cattle, plus the deer and antelope that wander across the ranch, and helps irrigate trees on the ranch.
The project cost $60,522, but Bar VK received a $15,130 grant from the Rural Energy for America Program to help offset the cost, plus Billings said he received a 30 percent grant from the IRS, and will receive an additional 10 percent tax credit from the state.
Add that to the rebates Billings gets from PNM by selling back extra power to them, and the project is expected to pay for itself in five years.
"It still sounds too good to be true," Billings said Friday.
USDA Rural Development Director Terry Brunner visited Billings on his ranch Friday, and presented him with a certificate of congratulations for completing the project and using the rural business cooperative funding through the Rural Energy for America Program.
The funding helps farmers, ranchers and small businesses in rural America with loan and grant financial support to install renewable energy systems and to make energy efficiency improvements. Projects don't have to be solar-based, either, Brunner said.
Melanie Goodman, representative from U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, also attended and read a statement from Sen. Bingaman.
The Bar VK Ranch solar power system is one of more than 900 projects across the country that have been funded by USDA to help reduce energy costs and develop new sources of renewable energy.
"In the last year we've seen more businesses access the REAP because the financing helps build competitive and sustainable rural communities by allowing the rural business owner to take advantage of using alternative energy as a way to cut costs," Brunner said.
Brunner said the program has funded about a dozen agricultural operations in the past year, and about two dozen over the past three years.
Projects have varied from helping an agricultural operator in Las Vegas, N.M. convert a diesel motor to electric, to a 1,200-panel solar project on a pecan farm in Roswell.
"For agricultural operations, it helps decrease their costs and insulates them from the volatility of the energy and commodities markets and helps them become more sustainable operations," Brunner said.
Billings said he learned about the solar-run pumps from a guy in Safford, Ariz, who has sun pumps. He applied for the funding last April and the project was completed in November.
"It's a pretty big capital investment up front, but with the grants and tax credits it comes back to you pretty quick," he said.
Source : http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_19840759
Source : http://www.scsun-news.com
Category : Small Business Grant
A new solar project on the Bar VK Ranch, south of Silver City, will save rancher Gerald "Billy" Billings, $130 a month, plus gives him an additional $130 a month for the electricity it produces.
With the help of funding from USDA Rural Development, Billings had a 42-panel solar panel array built that produces enough electricity to run a submersible pump that supplies water to roughly 18 stock tanks to help water his 200 head of cattle, plus the deer and antelope that wander across the ranch, and helps irrigate trees on the ranch.
The project cost $60,522, but Bar VK received a $15,130 grant from the Rural Energy for America Program to help offset the cost, plus Billings said he received a 30 percent grant from the IRS, and will receive an additional 10 percent tax credit from the state.
Add that to the rebates Billings gets from PNM by selling back extra power to them, and the project is expected to pay for itself in five years.
"It still sounds too good to be true," Billings said Friday.
USDA Rural Development Director Terry Brunner visited Billings on his ranch Friday, and presented him with a certificate of congratulations for completing the project and using the rural business cooperative funding through the Rural Energy for America Program.
The funding helps farmers, ranchers and small businesses in rural America with loan and grant financial support to install renewable energy systems and to make energy efficiency improvements. Projects don't have to be solar-based, either, Brunner said.
Melanie Goodman, representative from U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman's office, also attended and read a statement from Sen. Bingaman.
The Bar VK Ranch solar power system is one of more than 900 projects across the country that have been funded by USDA to help reduce energy costs and develop new sources of renewable energy.
"In the last year we've seen more businesses access the REAP because the financing helps build competitive and sustainable rural communities by allowing the rural business owner to take advantage of using alternative energy as a way to cut costs," Brunner said.
Brunner said the program has funded about a dozen agricultural operations in the past year, and about two dozen over the past three years.
Projects have varied from helping an agricultural operator in Las Vegas, N.M. convert a diesel motor to electric, to a 1,200-panel solar project on a pecan farm in Roswell.
"For agricultural operations, it helps decrease their costs and insulates them from the volatility of the energy and commodities markets and helps them become more sustainable operations," Brunner said.
Billings said he learned about the solar-run pumps from a guy in Safford, Ariz, who has sun pumps. He applied for the funding last April and the project was completed in November.
"It's a pretty big capital investment up front, but with the grants and tax credits it comes back to you pretty quick," he said.
Source : http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_19840759
