Background Press Call by Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Previewing President Biden’s Trip to Wisconsin

Via Teleconference

12:04 P.M. EDT

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining today's press call ahead of President Biden's trip to Wisconsin to discuss investments in rural electrification from his Investing in America agenda.

This call will begin with on-the-record remarks from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Afterwards, there will be a question-and-answer period. It will be on background and attributable to "senior administration officials."

As a reminder, the contents of the call and related materials that you will receive after the call will be embargoed until tomorrow, September 5th, at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.

With that, I will turn it over to Natalie.

MS. QUILLIAN: Thanks, Angelo. Hi, everybody, and thanks for joining us today to talk about President Biden's visit to Wisconsin tomorrow to discuss how his Investing in America agenda continues to benefit communities across the country.

Taking a step back, President Biden and Vice President Harris came to office inheriting a series of cascading challenges - from a once-in-a-generation pandemic and isolation on the world stage, crime being up, and the s- - middle class being sidelined.

But the president and the vice president rejected conventional wisdom that trickle-down economics was the best path for America. Instead, President Biden built the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, and made sure that instead of providing tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas, he invested here in America and in Americans.

The president has promised to be a president for all Americans - from small towns to big cities; blue, red, purple states; and places that, for too long, have been overlooked and left out.

And over the last three and a half years, he's followed through on that promise.

Today, because of the president's historic Investing in America agenda - which includes the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act - opportunity is growing in communities across this country.

Wages are up, inflation is down, this administration has had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years, and manufacturing is making a comeback in communities across the country.

His agenda has spurred over $910 billion in private-sector manufacturing and clean energy investments. We're building a clean energy economy that is lowering costs for millions of families and businesses. And we are making the most inv- -ambitious investments in our infrastructure - including high-speed Internet, clean water, and clean electricity - in a generation.

Because of the president's actions and his vision, Americans all across the country are seeing and feeling a better, more prosperous future on the horizon and a future of possibilities.

When the president travels to Wisconsin tomorrow, he will visit a community near La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he visited about three years ago. And when he was there in 2021, he laid out his plans for a better future. And when he returns tomorrow, he will have delivered on so many of those promises.

For example, in 2021 when he visited, he talked about repairing roads and bridges and other infrastructure. And he's returning with having passed the infrastructure law and launching 350 projects across Wisconsin.

In 2021, he talked about eradicating lead pipes. He's returning after announcing $9 billion to do just that, including $200 million in Wisconsin.

And in 2021, he talked about dangerous chemicals - PFAS. And he's returning after having created the first-ever national PFAS standard.

And importantly, in 2021, he talked about the need for good-paying jobs and opportunities in rural America and the need to address our climate crisis. And tomorrow, he will announce $7.3 billion from his Inflation Reduction Act for clean, affordable, reliable electricity.

It's the largest investment in rural electrification since FDR's administration and will spur economic development and lower costs for millions of American, and it will create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs.

He will hear from people on the ground about how these and other investments from his agenda are changing their lives for the better. And it's part of a broader effort that we've launched to hear directly from different communities across the country who are benefitting from the president's Investing in America agenda and, as a result, have peace of mind and more hope for the future.

The president kicked off this push yesterday when he spoke directly to four local, community, and Tribal leaders and other Americans who are seeing the tangible benefits of his agenda. And his trips to Wisconsin and Michigan this week will continue to highlight those stories.

And now I'd like to turn it over to Secretary Vilsack to talk more about this historic investment in rural America.

Secretary?

SECRETARY VILSACK: Natalie, thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you today.

Looking very much forward to the announcement tomorrow. It's an exciting announcement with a massive impact across 23 states to bring the promise of clean energy and lower costs to approximately 5 million rural households, representing 20 percent of the nation's entire rural household, as well as farms and businesses that are located in those 23 states.

As Natalie indicated, as part of the president's Investing in America agenda, and as a result of the passage of the president's Inflation Reduction Act, USDA will be committing $7.3 billion to 16 awardees, rural electric cooperatives, in those 23 states.

This resource will leverage an additional $29 billion of private investment, which, as Natalie indicated, is the largest investment in rural electrification since 1936 and the New Deal.

The impact of - of this investment cannot be overstated.

Natalie referenced the 4,500 permanent jobs and the 16,000 construction jobs, all of which will have good middle-class wages associated with them. But it's also about clean energy: ten gigawatts of clean energy, 37- - over 3,700 megawatts of wind power, over 4,700 megawatts of solar power, nearly 800 and - over 800 megawatts of nuclear power, and 357 watts of hydropower.

All of this is designed not only to provide more reliant elec- - electricity for those rural communities but will also result in a 43.7-million-ton annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the clean energy future the president envisioned.

In addition to all of the - the clean energy, there will also be nearly 1,900 megawatts of battery storage, which means greater resiliency within the system.

The president w- - specifically will have the opportunity to talk about the New ERA funding of the Dairyland Power Cooperative in Wisconsin. This is a $573 million commitment that the USDA is making with the Inflation Reduction Act resources in the form of a grant of nearly $471 million and a loan of nearly $102 million.

This is going to establish an opportunity for this particular cooperative to purchase - to - to finance eight power purchase agreements, four solar installations, four wind power installations across their service territory in Wisconsin. This is an opportunity, over the next 10 years, to lower the costs of electricity for the customers of the Dairyland Cooperative by nearly 42 percent.

What is really interesting about this opportunity, in addition to the investment USDA is making, is that the - the cooperative will also put its own resources into this. The total cost of the project will be a little over $2 billion.

In addition, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the - the cooperative will enter into a community benefit plan. These benefit plans are designed to provide direct assistance and - and help to farmers who will benefit from this clean energy as well as connecting to employment opportunities. You'll see the opportunity for apprenticeships and training programs in order to build the workforce of the future.

The New ERA program, which is the program that USDA is providing these resources, has a companion program. The New ERA program is available only to the RECs, rural electric cooperatives. But the Powering Affordable Clean Energy program, the PACE program, is available to municipal utilities as well as RECs.

And the USDA has already made 19 awards of $665 million in that program as well. In addition, the USDA is also, as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Investing in America effort of the Biden-Harris administration, we've invested in over 7,200 REAP grants. About 4,500 of those REAP grants are being financed directly from Inflation Reduction Act resources. This is allowing farmers and ranchers and producers and small-business owners to have an individual benefit of clean renewable energy.

I think it's important that - to - to point out that this is all a result of the funding that is being provided in the Inflation Reduction Act.

There are some in Congress who are suggesting that we need to condense the timeframe in which these projects need to be completed and to - and to essentially take some resources away from the Inflation Reduction Act in order to reinvest in - in other farm bill programs. Really deeply concerned about that, because you can see the power of the New ERA program and the PACE program and the opportunity for us to - over the course of the next several years, to make investments in rural job growth and in rural economic opportunity.

Excited about this opportunity, looking forward to the president's visit, and I think it's an opportunity, as well, to talk about the extraordinary investment that's been made in rural America by the Biden-Harris administration as part of the president's Investing in America initiative.

So, really, really important day. I'm looking forward to it and excited about the opportunity that this presents for - for rural places.

With that, I'll turn it back to Angelo for any questions.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you, Secretary. And thank you, Natalie.

Now we will move to the question-and-answer portion of the call. As a reminder, this will be on background and attributable to "senior administration officials." Please use the "raise hand" function on Zoom so that we may call on you. When you are called on, please identify yourself and your outlet.

Okay. We will start with Rachel. You should be unmuted now.

Q Hi. Thanks for taking my question. I was wondering, do you guys know whether, you know, this power - this clean power would have otherwise been generated without this award? And can you detail more about that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I'll take a first stab at that but maybe ask [senior administration official], who's on the call, to amplify.

I think it's fair to say that the extent and nature of the investment that's being made is - would be unlikely to have occurred but for the significant investment that the USDA and the Biden-Harris administration is making in these projects.

The fact that the Dairyland project, for example, is receiving a significant grant - a grant that basically funds $471 million of the project - would suggest that this is a - the impetus and this is the opportunity that we've created for a large - large-scale investment.

There may very well have been other investments made by the Dairyland Power Cooperative, but I don't think to the extent that they - that they are currently now prepared to do so with the help and assistance that USDA is providing.

[Senior administration official], you want to add anything to that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official] is exactly right. What I've heard directly from Cooperative executives is that New ERA is transforming their business. Dairyland CEO, for example, said they're going to be a different organization after Thursday than they were before because of the transformative effect of New ERA.

There's no doubt that while some of this might have occurred and there - these co-ops were making investments in clean energy, this is making sure that it's of a different scale, and, importantly, it's being done at a cost that is affordable for rural Americans.

Q And so, when you talked about some of these being, you know, power purchase agreements, that's not just purchasing power that already exists; that's creating - that's new wind turbines in the ground and new solar panels?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: To qualify for our funding, it has to be power that either was not built before or was not purchased by the particular co-op before.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you. We will go to Erik now. You should be unmuted.

Erik?

Q Yeah, what's full total timeframe for all of this to be built out fully to fully recognize the entire investment that's being made here?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official], is it 2031?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, sir. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, everything has to be built and validated and dispersed by September 30th, 2031.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you. We will go to Fatima next. You should be unmuted now.

Q Hi. Thank you for taking this call. How is the White House balancing these electrification and other projects with the IRA with the protests and lawsuits to mining the materials needed for this infrastructure, especially as projects encroach on culturally significant lands, especially for Tribes?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICAL: So, I can - I can start there, Fatima, and our USDA colleagues may want to speak a bit more about the - the design of this particular program.

I'm not sure which - what kinds of mining or other facilities that you have in mind. But here, as elsewhere across the Investing in America agenda, USDA has built community benefits agreements into the design of this program, and so the co-ops that are being selected for these awards have done and will continue to do extensive community consultations in their service areas and in the project areas to ensure that these projects are being built according to high labor standards, that they are delivering benefits directly to communities, and, consistent with all federal projects that fall under NEPA permitting processes, that those public consultations and any Tribal consultations that are - that are required by the project service area are fully - fully pursued.

But, [senior administration official], I don't know if there's anything else you want to add about the community benefits agreement approach here.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official] is right on. We are making sure that each of these co-ops does extensive community engagement with the areas that are - that will be affected by the - by New ERA funding. We expect that this funding will result in tremendous benefits beyond just the clean power. That particularly applies to farmers seeing benefits and the job growth that Natalie mentioned earlier. And part of that is a robust engagement of the people who are there.

The last piece I'll just say about this is that co-ops are owned by the members, so the people who live and work in rural America are the people who own the co-ops. There's no utility that's more sensitive to what the people who live in its service territory are thinking about and worried about than co-ops, and that puts them a step ahead when it comes to this community engagement.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you. We will to Sean next. You should be unmuted now.

Q Thank you. Thank you for hosting this. My two questions really are a little bit more about logistics. First one is, will Secretary Vilsack be joining the president? Will there be people available to comment tomorrow from the co-op?

And when the president visited here two years ago, we were allowed to walk with him as he inspected some of the EV equipment that the city was investing in. Is that part of the plan for tomorrow?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I can assure you - this is Tom Vilsack. I can assure you that I'll be there in Wisconsin with the President.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: And, Sean, on some of your logistical questions, we're happy to follow up with you on those.

Okay. We will go to Larry next. You should be unmuted now.

Larry?

Q There we go. I think it's working now.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Yep. There you go.

Q Larry Lee at Brownfield Ag News.

First of all, are all the grants going to cooperatives. And secondly, the $471 million to Dairyland Power Co-Op, does that include bringing the Genoa nuclear plant back online or perhaps building a new reactor? I believe [senior administration official] mentioned that might not be able to use it on stuff built before this, but there may be something else in the works.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official], I'm going to let you answer the last part of Larry's question, but it's my understanding that the New ERA program is specifically designed and only available to rural electric cooperatives.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes, sir. And then I just want to be clear about the total amount. So, the $471 million that you mentioned, Larry, that's just for the grants. There's another $101-plus million that is going for loan refinancing.

The co-ops will see significant savings from these financings that they can then plow back into new clean energy. Again, that makes the end result more affordable for these co-ops. So, there is a tremendous advantage in both products. And the total is $573 million just for Dairyland.

As for the nuclear plant, Dairyland is building - is buying power from four new solar projects and four new wind projects. Their particular plan does not involve any new nuclear.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you. We will go to Kelsey next. You should be unmuted now.

Q Can you hear me?

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Yes.

Q Hi. This is Kelsey Reichmann from Courthouse News.

A lot of the administration's efforts with clean energy have been challenged at the Supreme Court, and, in particular, there's a challenge to the power plant rules for lowering emissions. And some of the industry groups claim that adopting these new emission standards would impact the energy grid because they would have to close down plants and they wouldn't be able to adjust to the rules. So, I guess I'm wondering how these investments address those problems and if they do.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I can - I can take that, or at least start, and if [senior administration official] wants to add.

This is an entirely voluntary initiative. The co-ops were invited to submit letters of interest that detailed what they wanted their future to look like with regard to clean energy. So, there's - there was no regulatory piece to this whatsoever.

These are co-ops who understand that the clean energy is going to make their systems more reliable and more resilient to extreme weather. The - by ensuring that we are helping with upfront costs, that keeps the entire - all the projects more affordable. And we know that each of the 16 selectees are excited for wh- - for this opportunity.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's right, [senior administration official].

And all I'll just add there is that, you know, this is part - you know, a major program under the president's Inflation Reduction Act, under the Investing in America agenda, which is putting money directly into communities to help build the clean energy projects that they want to build to achieve all of those goals that [senior administration official] has in mind.

This is a - you know, this is a program that was authorized and appropriated by Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, and we're very excited about tomorrow's milestone.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you. We have time for one more question. And we will go to Hope. You should be unmuted now.

Q Thank you. Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio. I'm wondering if there is something about this project in Westby that, you know, caused the president to want to highlight this project out of all the 16. You know, is there - there something about this project in Wisconsin that represents, you know, kind of the goals of the Investing in America agenda?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I'm happy to take a initial stab on this.

You know, I think this is a project that in which all aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act are sort of underscored. The notion that not only are you going to essentially leverage private investment, not only are you going to create clean energy that will make the systems providing energy to rural Wisconsin more reliable and more resilient, but you're also providing an opportunity where it's expected that costs will be lower over time than they would have otherwise been because of the source of this energy. And you also have the benefit of the community benefit agreements and arrangements.

This project, I think, is exemplary of the 16 projects that are being awarded. And this is just the beginning. There will be additional awards in the New ERA program. And, of course, we - I mentioned that - the PACE program as well.

And this is also, I think, an opportunity to point out that when you combine this investment with the REAP investments to farmers and ranchers and producers who are capable of producing their own electricity, reducing their costs, but also potentially producing some excess that there opens up the opportunity in the future for farmers to work collaboratively together with their RECs, which could (audio drops) another revenue stream for farmers, which is extremely important.

So, this particular project sort of brings everything to a head, and the good relationship that the Dairyland has with the unions that will probably be responsible for some of the jobs that will be created in this project.

I just recently visited the pipefitters training s- - school in Wisconsin. They're excited about the opportunities that the Inflation Reduction Act is providing for new jobs. They're seeing an increase in apprenticeships. They're seeing an increased interest on the part of folks to be pipefitters and steamfitters. And so, this is a project that will also create really good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and in rural places.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: If I can just add to what [senior administration official] just said, he's exactly right. This is representative of what New ERA is going to do all around the country.

It - the baseline for Dairyland is that they now emit about 4.6 million tons of greenhouse gasses. By the time that these programs have come to fruition and they've completed these projects, that number is going to be down to about 1.4 million tons. What that is is about a 70 percent decrease in their carbon emissions, an incredible amount. And New ERA funding will be responsible for about 85 percent of that.

On top of that, as you all know from the press release, Dairyland is - expects that about - their rates will be about 42 percent lower than they otherwise would have been as a result of the New ERA funding once this is complete, and that is representative of what we are seeing all around the country when it comes to the recipients of these New ERA funds.

The Inflation Reduction Act is transforming this entire industry. It's an industry that is purely owned by and for rural America. When we invest in that, we are literally putting equity into rural America. And as [senior administration official] notes, these projects are indicative of what's going to happen in the other 15 awardees and then eventually to the other funding that we will be announcing as the time goes on.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And if I could just add - this is [senior administration official] - just to pick up on what [senior administration official] said - you know, the president will go to - this week, he will have gone to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

And this is, as I mentioned earlier, part of the big push we're doing to make sure the president is in communities, meeting with folks who are benefiting from his Investing in America agenda - that's urban communities, that's rural communities, and otherwise - to just demonstrate the tangible impacts that this agenda is already having across the country. And I think Wisconsin and Dairyland is a great example of that.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ: Thank you, [senior administration official], and thank you, everyone. Thank you for joining us. This will end our press call.

As a reminder, the contents of this call and the materials that you will receive over email will be embargoed until 5:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.

Thank you for joining us.

12:32 P.M. EDT

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