Hoeven Discusses Opportunities for USDA Loan Programs to Advance Energy Security, Meet Rural Health Care, Housing & Livestock Producer Needs

Hoeven Discusses Opportunities for USDA Loan Programs to Advance Energy Security, Meet Rural Health Care, Housing & Livestock Producer Needs

Senator Secures Commitment from Rural Development Nominee to Work with Electric Cooperatives on Accelerating Crack the Code 2.0

WASHINGTON - At a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee this week, Senator John Hoeven discussed with Glen Smith, the nominee to serve as Under Secretary for Rural Development, the opportunity to leverage credit programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to advance a range of priorities in rural America. Smith currently serves as chairman of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation (FCSIC) and a member of the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) board of directors. Accordingly, both in the hearing and a meeting Hoeven held with Smith in September, the senator outlined how Smith's experience will empower Rural Development to make the best use of its credit programs and how they can work together to:

• Advance Hoeven's Crack the Code 2.0 initiative to double the life of North Dakota's coal-fired power plants and double oil production in the Bakken.
  • Hoeven stressed that rural electric cooperatives will be a key player in deploying enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies in the Bakken.
  • The senator secured a commitment from Smith to work with him and the electric cooperatives to accelerate this initiative, which will establish a new revenue stream for coal producers while using EOR to access more than 5 billion barrels of additional oil in North Dakota.
• Address health care, housing and other critical needs in rural America.
  • Hoeven highlighted successful efforts to build state-of-the-art hospitals in communities like Rugby, Grafton and Hazen as a model for meeting similar rural needs.
  • Hoeven worked as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee to support communities in leveraging both Rural Development loans and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) reimbursement to secure new facilities and vastly improve health care access in those regions.
• Expand access to local, small meat processing facilities, giving ranchers more options for selling and marketing their products.

"In North Dakota, we've made good use of credit programs at USDA to empower communities to meet local and regional needs, particularly for health care. We're working to expand upon those efforts, including by working with our rural electric cooperatives to advance Crack the Code 2.0 in the Bakken, and Glen Smith will be an important partner in moving that initiative forward," said Hoeven. "Whether it's energy security, health care, housing or better helping livestock producers sell their commodities, we have real opportunities through Rural Development to improve the economy and quality of life in rural America. I look forward to working with Mr. Smith to do just that once he's confirmed to his new role."

CRACK THE CODE 2.0

This week's hearing comes as the latest in Hoeven's efforts to secure federal support for Crack the Code 2.0, which seeks to partner North Dakota's oil and coal industries to double both the ultimate oil recovery in the Bakken and the operational life of the state's coal-fired power plants. To move this priority forward, Hoeven:

• Is working as a member of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee to secure up to $50 million from the federal government for the project, having provided $12 million for the effort to date.
  • The initial $12 million award enabled the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Chord Energy to conduct 18 months of field and laboratory research to study the viability of injecting CO2 and natural gas liquids into unconventional oil reservoirs for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery.
  • Hoeven has since secured commitments from Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy Kyle Haustveit to collaborate with North Dakota on this effort and increase federal support from the Department of Energy (DOE).
  • The federal and state funding will be used to leverage $76 million in private investment, bringing the total project funding to approximately $171 million.
• Worked to ensure the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) properly aligned the 45Q tax credit to incentivize the use of CO2 for EOR. Doing so:
  • Provides a strong, long-term incentive for EOR, making it the clear, commercially-viable choice to improve oil recovery in the Bakken.
  • Establishes an additional revenue stream for coal producers to extend the life of coal power plants and continue providing a critical source of baseload power.

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