Letter to Congress urges more support for bioethanol businesses
More than 30 co-operative serving members across the upper Midwest in the US have signed a letter urging members of Congress to provide economic relief for food and ethanol processing plants.
The letter was addressed to members of Congress from Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska.
The letter calls for Congress to support additional stimulus package relief. The electric co-operatives represented on the letter combined serve more than three million consumers across the region.
“We are respectfully requesting much-needed economic relief for rural America, which continues to suffer from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” the letter said.
“Rural electric co-operatives were created to provide electricity to farms and rural communities and have continued to expand this essential service as rural America has grown and prospered. Our member-owners have invested in not only the electric infrastructure through their co-operative to serve these areas, but also in helping to develop the rural economy in which they live. These investments have allowed for diversification into biofuels, food processing, and other business development opportunities.”
The nationwide steep drop in liquid fuel demand has resulted in a major economic impact on biofuels processing plants across the country.
Estimates show as much as half of US ethanol production has been idled. In addition, the pandemic has forced several food processing facilities to either idle or shut down.
These events have left producers of several agricultural commodities without a market for their products.
“Reduced ethanol production and livestock processing threatens our food and energy security, and, in turn, results in reduced electric load, a burden that ultimately falls on the individual members of an electric cooperative,” the letter adds. “The combination of these issues poses a significant threat to the overall well-being of the rural communities that we serve.”
Congress is currently considering passage of another stimulus package as the nation continues to experience significant impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The region’s electric cooperatives are urging others to also reach out to Congress to ensure the needs of rural America are addressed in the package.
The letter was addressed to members of Congress from Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska.
The letter calls for Congress to support additional stimulus package relief. The electric co-operatives represented on the letter combined serve more than three million consumers across the region.
“We are respectfully requesting much-needed economic relief for rural America, which continues to suffer from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” the letter said.
“Rural electric co-operatives were created to provide electricity to farms and rural communities and have continued to expand this essential service as rural America has grown and prospered. Our member-owners have invested in not only the electric infrastructure through their co-operative to serve these areas, but also in helping to develop the rural economy in which they live. These investments have allowed for diversification into biofuels, food processing, and other business development opportunities.”
The nationwide steep drop in liquid fuel demand has resulted in a major economic impact on biofuels processing plants across the country.
Estimates show as much as half of US ethanol production has been idled. In addition, the pandemic has forced several food processing facilities to either idle or shut down.
These events have left producers of several agricultural commodities without a market for their products.
“Reduced ethanol production and livestock processing threatens our food and energy security, and, in turn, results in reduced electric load, a burden that ultimately falls on the individual members of an electric cooperative,” the letter adds. “The combination of these issues poses a significant threat to the overall well-being of the rural communities that we serve.”
Congress is currently considering passage of another stimulus package as the nation continues to experience significant impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The region’s electric cooperatives are urging others to also reach out to Congress to ensure the needs of rural America are addressed in the package.
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