Oklahoma is receiving a piece of $325 million dollars set aside by the federal government for an electric loan program meant to strengthen the rural power grid.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke Thursday at a press conference.
“These projects will help to improve the efficiency of nearly 1,500 miles of electric lines that will increase reliability and provide for a more resilient system.”
Vilsack said the money is going to rural electric cooperatives, or RECs, who then strengthen power lines as they see fit.
“Essentially what we do is we provide resources to the RECs that provide electric power to rural areas. They look at their reliabilities, they look at their operations. It may very well may be the lines need to be strengthened and improved, or it may be they are in the process of putting some lines underground. It may be they are increasing their capacity. ”
Oklahoma is one of a handful of states to benefit from the loans. Missouri and Arkansas were also named.