A Fly-in to Create Buy-In

CEDI Fly-In participants in front of Senator Chuck Grassley’s office. Photo credit: Aidan Reed, RCP

Every piece of legislation begins with a choice: whose voices will shape it? When rural Americans share their experiences directly with policymakers, they help ensure those decisions reflect the realities of their communities. 

In late June, Rural Climate Partnership (RCP), Resource Rural, and representatives from RCP grantees Clean Energy Districts of Iowa, Solar United Neighbors, and Appalachian Voices joined our partner Invest in Our Future for a fly-in to Washington, D.C. The fly-in brought together more than 50 clean energy champions, including farmers, small business owners, and clean energy professionals. While in D.C., participants met with their congressional representatives and staff to highlight the importance of federal investments in clean energy, electrification, and efficiency for rural America. The conversations took place as Congress debates the future of several federal clean energy programs, demonstrating to leaders the value of these investments to help rural communities lower energy costs and strengthen local economies.

RCP Senior Program Associate Aidan Reed accompanied staff from Clean Energy Districts of Iowa and leaders from its member districts to meet with Iowa's congressional delegation and discuss the importance of USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP provides grants and loan financing to help farmers and rural small businesses invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements that reduce operating costs and strengthen rural economies. Although demand for the program remains high, REAP has not accepted new applications since June 2025 after an Executive Order shifted federal funding priorities away from renewable energy.

A View from Iowa

RCP grantee Clean Energy Districts of Iowa (CEDI) helps residents, farmers, and small businesses access funding and technical support for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Through its work with REAP, the organization has helped rural Iowans navigate the application process and make improvements that lower energy use and operating costs.

CEDI fly-in participants shared with representatives about how REAP benefited them firsthand. One fly-in participant was Arla Wagner, a local business owner whom CEDI helped apply to REAP and who received a $2,200 REAP grant to install high-efficiency HVAC equipment for her small business, Arla’s Sewing Room. In her conversations with representatives and staff, Wagner emphasized that the $2,200 REAP grant felt like $22,000 in its impact. Before she received REAP funding, Ms. Wagner was putting almost all of her business income into her energy costs, leaving little room to invest elsewhere. She explained that REAP dollars didn’t only support her, but helped the entire community, enabling her to drastically reduce her electricity bills, cut costs for customers, and reinvest those savings into her business and community. Stories like Wagner’s would not be possible without sustained federal investment in renewable energy, and hearing direct constituent feedback like hers helped frame REAP’s importance for lawmakers.

CEDI Fly-In participants in front of Senator Chuck Grassley’s office. Photo credit: Aidan Reed, RCP.

In addition, CEDI shared how the current federal freeze is impacting constituent pocketbooks and local businesses. In a meeting with staff from Representative Ashley Hinson’s office, CEDI’s Steve Hopkins described the challenges faced by Iowa farmers and small business owners whose REAP applications were caught in the funding freezes. 

USDA has not accepted or reviewed any new REAP applications since April 2025, and halted the review of previously submitted applications, leaving those applicants unable to move forward. CEDI supported several REAP applicants seeking over $208,000 in federal funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that did not advance through the funding process. Applicants who went forward with their projects anticipating REAP support are now ineligible to reapply, leaving them to absorb costs they had expected the program to help cover, creating additional financial strain for their farms and businesses.

A Future Worth Working For

Through their conversations with lawmakers and staff, CEDI staff and members, along with other fly-in participants, helped move conversations around clean energy beyond abstraction. They showed that, for many rural communities, programs like REAP are practical investments that help save people money, benefit rural economies, and reduce emissions. This all matters especially for rural America, where residents are disproportionately energy burdened compared to their urban counterparts. 

As debates over America's energy future continue, RCP is committed to ensuring rural communities have a voice in the decisions that shape their lives. We’re grateful to Invest in Our Future for organizing the fly-in, and to our grantee partners for showing up and sharing their stories with federal policymakers. Events like the fly-in remind us that the future of clean energy in rural America will not be shaped by policy alone, but by the people whose livelihoods and communities depend on it.