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Solar panels have been on Anna May Cory’s mind for years. But she worried the expense of installing them would outweigh the long-term cost savings. All that changed last year when Cory found out about thousands of dollars in grants and tax credits available through the Inflation Reduction Act designed specifically to help rural businesses afford to upgrade their buildings to cut energy costs. The 27-room Pines Inn and Suites sits a few miles southwest of Arizona’s famous Sedona red rocks in the 12,000-person town of Cottonwood. Cory moved to the community in search of a rural atmosphere, warmer temperatures and a friendly, small-town experience, which she now helps to foster.

Four Seasons installed its first 1.3-megawatt solar array in 2018, utilizing a 26 percent solar investment tax credit. They recently added a second, 1.7-megawatt array, using the federal tax credit and depreciation at 37 percent. The tax credits that funded these upgrades were made available through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

With a $129 million federal grant, this solar facility will generate 250 MW of energy-just one MW can power roughly 750 homes at a time.

Smith Family Farms is a bit different. After applying for and receiving a Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) grant, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, the farm installed a sizable solar array in late 2023. The $250,000 grant covered about 40% of the cost of the array, which has 25 panels arranged in five rows of five, covering about an acre.

A project in rural Minnesota that is critical to improving access to reliable electricity for members of the White Earth Reservation is in jeopardy. And an organization that is helping the tribe with the project is now suddenly shouldering a $1.6 million risk that it never intended to. 

In March, 2025, the freeze on this program lifted and the first 4 of 50 buses were delivered to Kanawha County School District under funding Round 2 of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. To date, 22 have been deployed!

Fleming County School District in Kentucky is receiving 24 electric school buses, with 100% of the costs covered.

RenewAll worked with the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund to replace the roof on a Huntington antique market. RenewAll owns the marketplace, which serves as a venue for nearly 50 vendors selling jewelry, clothing, furniture, and more. Once they replaced the roof, they collaborated with local donors and the West Virginia installer Solar Holler to get IRA tax and acquired a 30% Investment Tax Credit and a 10% Energy Communities bonus.

Leaders at the Lifeline Church of God used Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and partnered with the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund to install solar on their church roof.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funded-EPA Clean School Bus Program partnered with the busing company, First Student, to equip an area with nearly 20,000 students with cleaner, quieter, and healthier electric transportation.