USDA Makes $486M Electric Loan to Strengthen Electric Reliability Across Georgia

(Washington, D.C., July 28, 2026) - Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the agency is investing $486.7 million through the Electric Infrastructure Loan Program to strengthen electric reliability and help maintain affordable power for communities throughout Georgia with wide-ranging system improvements.

"President Trump's energy dominance agenda is powering the Golden Age of America, and we must ensure the resilience and security of America's electric power grid to continue this growth. This includes modernizing this critical infrastructure and working with our electric cooperatives to serve even the most rural communities," said US. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. "This investment strengthens Georgia's vast electric grid, ensuring families and businesses have reliable power they can afford."

Oglethorpe Power (OPC), headquartered in Tucker, Georgia, will use loan funds provided by USDA Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to make critical upgrades, replacements, and maintenance. These generation system improvements will occur at 14 sites both owned and co-owned by OPC. Overall, improvements will enhance reliability, reduce operating costs, and help ease long-term pressure on consumer electric rates.

Oglethorpe Power is a generation and transmission cooperative owned by 38 electric distribution cooperatives serving consumers across Georgia. As one of the largest electric cooperatives in the nation, OPC supplies wholesale power through a diverse energy portfolio that includes coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, natural gas, and other resources, combined with long-term and short-term power supply contracts. This balanced mix allows OPC to provide dependable, competitively priced electricity to its members and the communities they serve.

For more information on USDA Rural Development investments in rural America, visit the Rural Data Gateway. The Rural Data Gateway is an online tool that strengthens USDA Rural Development partnerships with rural people, entrepreneurs, government officials and Congress by making agency investment data accessible to the public.

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