The record

Voices from Rural Electric Cooperatives: A Call for a DER Integration Playbook

Role

Co-author (Chris Ball, Lead Strategist, Terenc)

Venue

Idaho National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, INL/RPT-25-84640, March 2025. Prepared under the RAISE Initiative.

In-depth interviews with nine rural electric cooperative managers on how they approach distributed energy resources; recommends a DER integration playbook for rural-serving utilities.

The Field Guide for REAP Grants

Role

Authored by Terenc

Funder

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, State Energy Program Award 24-SEPF-001, with Iowa Economic Development. 2026.

A 46-page how-to guide for Iowa farms and small businesses applying to the USDA Rural Energy for America Program: eligibility, registration, the energy assessment, every form, the environmental review, and submission.

REAP grant applications are currently paused while USDA rewrites program rules. Guaranteed loan applications continue to be accepted. Preparing your materials now means you are ready when the grant window reopens.

DER Integration Training for Rural-Serving Electric Utilities

Funder

Iowa Energy Office, Preparedness, Innovation, and Energy Education Program.

Training built for the staff of small utilities on integrating distributed energy resources into the systems they already run.

Distributed Energy Resource Management System for Rural Electric Cooperatives and Municipal Utilities

Funder

Iowa Energy Office, Iowa Energy Center Grant Program.

A management layer for the solar, storage, and other resources already on small-utility feeders, so operators can see and direct them as one system.