Solar panels at Ten Mothers Farm paid for with the help of REAP grant funds. The solar panels provide 100% of the farm’s electricity. Photo by Gordon Jenkins.

North Carolina Cooperative Extension of Chatham County is conducting a webinar on March 12 for farmers interested in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects (and getting grants to help fund them!).

REAP the Benefits of Energy Improvements on Your Farm: Using REAP Grants to Fund Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements

March 12, 2024
6:00-8:00 p.m.

The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) provides grants and guaranteed loan financing to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.

How may the funds be used?

Funds may be used for the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems, such as:

• Solar generation
• Wind generation
• Geothermal
• Biomass/biogas

Funds may also be used for the purchase, installation, and construction of energy efficiency improvements, such as:

• High efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC)
• Insulation
• Lighting
• Cooling or refrigeration units
• Doors and windows
• Electric, solar or gravity pumps for sprinkler pivots
• Switching from a diesel to electric irrigation motor
• Replacement of energy-inefficient equipment

 Webinar Agenda:

Welcome & Introduction
Debbie Roos, N.C. Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

What is REAP and How Does it Benefit My Farm?
Art Samberg, NC Clean Energy Technology Center, NC State University

Energy Efficiency Audits: Save Energy by Using Less of It!
Kimberly Van Niekerk, Waste Reduction Partners

Renewable Energy Projects for My Farm
Art Samberg, NC Clean Energy Technology Center, NC State University

REAP Funding Application Support and Tax Incentives Combine to Help Farmers Fund Energy Improvements
Randy Lucas, Lucas Tax + Energy Consulting

How REAP Helped Fund Solar Panels for Our Farm
Gordon Jenkins, Ten Mothers Farm

This is a FREE webinar but pre-registration is required.

Click here to register.

Registrants will receive the Zoom link two days prior to the webinar. The webinar will be recorded.

Questions? If you have questions about this webinar, contact Sustainable Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos at debbie_roos@ncsu.edu

Speaker Bios:

Art Samberg is a Program Director in the Clean Power and Industrial Energy Efficiency program at the NC Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University. In this role, Art conducts and manages technical assistance services for onsite energy technologies including combined heat and power, solar PV, energy storage, wind, and geothermal projects. Art also manages the USDA REAP-funded renewable energy and technical assistance grants for NC State. Art is a meteorologist with over 40 years of experience providing technical services to clients.

Kimberly Van Niekerk is the Energy Program Manager for Waste Reduction Partners with the Land of Sky Regional Council in Asheville, NC. Waste Reduction Partners has performed 173 on-site energy efficiency audits in support of REAP-EA projects totaling over $5 million worth of energy cost savings for farms and small businesses across North Carolina. Prior to WRP, Kimberly worked as an Energy Consultant to key solar power companies in western North Carolina and conducted pre-feasibility advisory on energy projects worldwide. Earlier in her career, Kimberly served as an Energy Advisor to the Power Africa presidential initiative with USAID and as a market and financial analyst.

Randy Lucas is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lucas Tax + Energy Consulting, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, which was founded in 2009. Lucas Tax + Energy Consulting thrives on being a ‘Remarkably Uncommon Firm’, serving as a full-service business tax consultancy that provides grant facilitation and financial advisory services through specializing in tax credits, incentives, and grants for solar energy, energy efficiency, and waste-to-energy/bioenergy alternative energy technologies, and promoting systems for clean tech development with incentives for electric vehicle infrastructure. With regard to REAP grant filing, Lucas Tax + Energy has extensive experience filing grants for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) since 2017. With the recent increased funding of the REAP grant program from the Inflation Reduction Act, Lucas Tax + Energy Consulting filed or contributed to the filing of 24 rural projects and over $10.5M in grant funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements in the 2023 funding cycles.

Gordon Jenkins and his wife Vera Fabian have owned Ten Mothers Farm in Cedar Grove, NC since 2016. With one acre in production, they grow vegetables year-round for 280 CSA members and a handful of restaurants.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, genetic information, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sexual identity (including pregnancy), and veteran status. NC State University, N.C. A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. Persons with disabilities and persons with limited English proficiency may request accommodations to participate by contacting Ginger Cunningham, County Extension Director, at 919-542-8202, ginger_cunningham@ncsu.edu, or in person at the Chatham County office at least 30 days prior to the event.