Biden promotes administration’s rural electrification funding in Wisconsin

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden returns to southwest Wisconsin to make good on his promise to provide new investments in rural electrification and other infrastructure.

Biden will be in Westby on Thursday to announce $7.3 billion in investments for 16 cooperatives that will provide electricity for rural areas across 23 states. The intent is to bring down the cost of badly needed internet connections in hard-to-reach areas. Funding for the project comes from Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August 2022.

The law invests roughly $13 billion in rural electrification across multiple programs and will create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs, according to the White House.