A freeze on federal loans and grants is creating turmoil for some rural U.S. business owners who fear they won’t get reimbursed for new, cleaner irrigation equipment or solar panels they purchased with the promise of a rebate.
In Cherryville, Maine, Hugh Lassen and his wife and two teenagers grow organic, wild blueberries on their Intervale Farm. Last year they purchased solar panels to run their home, a blueberry sorter and 14 freezers. They did it thinking they’d get an $8,000 grant through the Rural Energy for America Program.
“It’s never the right time to spend $25,700,” Lassen said. “It’s a huge amount of money for us because we’re pretty small … you also have college expenses looming.”
Solar panels on a workshop roof catch the sunlight at Intervale Farm, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Solar panels on a workshop roof catch the sunlight at Intervale Farm, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Hugh Lassen pours wild blueberries into a pot during the making of blueberry spread, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Hugh Lassen pours wild blueberries into a pot during the making of blueberry spread, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Jenny Lassen pours cooked wild blueberries into a measuring cup while canning the fruit, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Jenny Lassen pours cooked wild blueberries into a measuring cup while canning the fruit, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Organic wild blueberry farmers Hugh and Jenny Lassen can jars of blueberry spread at their home, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Organic wild blueberry farmers Hugh and Jenny Lassen can jars of blueberry spread at their home, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Cherryfield, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on giving out these funds, but federal judges have said departments can disburse them. Yet many departments have not resumed writing checks, so questions remain for some business owners who spent years making plans for improvements they could afford only with grants.
“We’ll just have to suck it up if somehow the funding doesn’t come through,” Lassen said.
REAP, offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of the many initiatives rocked by the funding freeze. It provides grants to small businesses in rural areas so they can generate clean energy or improve their energy efficiency. Besides solar, it has helped fund wind turbines, electric irrigation pumps to replace diesel ones, and corn ethanol.
Once a business gets approved for REAP, it purchases the technology and operates it for at least 30 days. Then a USDA agent comes out personally for verification and barring any problem,