Biden in Westby touts $7.3B in federal grants to boost clean energy in rural communities – WisPolitics

By Gregg Hoffmann
For WisPolitics

WESTBY – Economic development and clean energy were the focus of President Joe Biden’s visit to the Vernon Electric Cooperative in this western Wisconsin community of 2,370.

Biden announced $7.3 billion for 16 cooperatives in the country that provide electric and clean energy alternatives in rural areas and small towns. The first co-op to be chosen was Dairyland Power Cooperative in La Crosse. The cooperative in Westby is a member coop of Dairyland. Brent Ridge, Dairyland CEO, joined Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the invitation-only event. Funds include grants and loans via the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s New ERA program.

Vernon Electric General Manager and CEO Craig Buros says the cooperative saw the need for the solar farm and had been waiting for the right opportunity. The Bluff Prairie Community Solar plan works for all members. “My goal has always been to develop a project that was cost neutral. We have members who struggled to pay their monthly bill, let alone be able to pay extra for solar,” Buros explained. 

Ridge added, ““If we look at what we were able to accomplish prior to receiving New ERA funding, it was similar to driving 20 mph on a country road versus getting on the interstate going 70.”

The latest efforts fit Wisconsin’s energy history. Almost a century ago, when electric cooperatives were still forming under the newly created Rural Electrification Administration, local leaders in the Badger state got together to create the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association to help coordinate efforts. It was the launch of the first association of its kind in the nation. The year was 1936. (There are now 39 statewide associations.)

Biden talked about economic development, especially in rural areas and small towns. “These New ERA investments will support more than 4,500 permanent jobs and over 16,000 construction jobs. They will also prevent at least 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution annually, equivalent to removing pollution from more than 10 million gas-powered cars every year,” he said. “The Inflation Reduction Act invests nearly $13 billion in rural electrification across multiple programs—the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal.”

Biden said the Investing in America Agenda – which includes projects ranging from roads and bridges to rural internet — is ensuring a brighter future for communities and families in Wisconsin and around the country. 

The stop was Biden’s sixth trip to Wisconsin of 2024, but his first since he announced July 21 that he was dropping his reelection bid. He was last in the area in 2021, when he touted a $973 billion infrastructure package that was working its way through Congress.

State GOP Chair Brian Schimming in a statement knocked the president’s return to Wisconsin as “the comeback tour that no one wanted.” He used Biden’s visit to slam the administration for “runaway inflation and mayhem at the southern border” while accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of misleading the public about Biden’s decline and inability to serve.

“This visit is not a celebration, but a somber reminder that a vote for Harris and Tim Walz this November is a vote for another four years of Joe Biden,” Schimming said.

Danny Helgerson, who has served as mayor of Westby since 2015, suggested the city’s profile helped draw Biden. There currently is a major street project in downtown, funded in part by federal funds. Westby also completed a new industrial park in 2022. And, VEC has a Community Solar Farm that serves hundreds of customers and likely was the main reason the President came to town.

“We’ve been trying to grow the city,” Helgerson said. “I think the message got out, and he (Biden) wanted to talk about economic development.”

Helgerson emphasized that despite the extra work, and security, people in Westby should be happy and proud about the appearance. “No matter what your political affiliation, a visit by the sitting president is a very big thing for a very small town. It’s a real honor,” Helgerson said. 

Threatening weather damped Biden’s visit at times. Across the road from where he spoke, there was a line of Trump-Vance signs. 

Biden’s made history for the town.

Blaine Hedberg, president of the Westby Historical Society, confirmed that George W. Bush came through Westby: “All I could find was that George W. Bush passed through Westby around Oct. 26, 2014 while he was out campaigning for, I believe, his brother Jeb. Evidently children were lined up along Main Street near the Coon Prairie Lutheran Church and he waved while driving through town. Of course he was not a sitting president at the time. Jack and possibly, Bobby Kennedy, were said to be in Westby in 1960, but again before being elected president. I think Biden is the first.”

See a White House fact sheet on the grants.

View photos from Biden’s visit.