USDA invests $89M, mostly in loans, to improve rural Tennessee utilities

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins hugs Gov. Bill Lee during the Future Farmers of America breakfast in Lebanon, Tenn. on Aug. 18, 2025.
(Photo:

John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture invested $89 million — mostly in loans — to rural Tennessee communities to support improvements to electric utilities, critical infrastructure and education.

The Duck River Electric Membership Corporation, a Shelbyville-based electric cooperative serving nearly 83,000 customers across 17 counties, will receive the lion’s share of the investment through a $64.7 million loan. The loan will help the utility build and improve 239 miles of line to connect an additional 7,230 customers, according to the USDA. The electric cooperative previously partnered with the USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program to administer pass-through funding for projects supporting job growth.

USDA’s Rural Development programs aim to support prosperity in rural communities by bolstering infrastructure, utilities, business, healthcare, education, and housing, according to the department.

The remaining $24.3 million in loans and grants will help Tennessee communities improve water lines and pump stations, repave streets, and bolster wastewater treatment systems.

Life Christian Academy in Sumner County will receive $3.4 million in loans to expand its daycare program through fifth grade. In Hamilton County, Ivy Academy will use a $5.1 million loan to build a high school career technology center to support student careers in mechanical, electrical, plumbing and automotive fields. 

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the batch of investments while visiting Tennessee on Aug. 18 for the Future Farmers of America breakfast in Lebanon. Rollins also announced an initiative to stop solar panel subsidies and defended more than $31 million in federal funding cuts to agricultural research at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. 

Rollins said the grant clawbacks were made to programs “that did not align with the president’s vision of putting farmers first.” One of the grants affected was a $30 million project that aimed to expand markets for climate-smart beef, dairy and small grazing animals.

Other USDA investments in rural Tennessee communities include:

• A $2.3 million loan for Cunningham Utility District in Montgomery County to extend water lines to serve 70 more households
• A $2 million loan for Celina in Clay County to repave city streets
• A $2.75 million loan for the Marshall County Emergency Communications District to build a new 911 dispatch and call center
• A $5.4 million loan for the Hallsdale Powell Utility District in Knox County for wastewater line replacement and system improvements
• A $729,000 grant and $530,000 loan for the Cooper Basin Utility District in Polk County to build 4,000 feet of water line and build a booster pump station
• A $316,000 grant and $397,000 loan for the Webb Creek Utility District in Sevier County to replace concrete wastewater lines with larger iron lines
• A $600,000 grant and $1 million loan to Selmer in McNairy County to repair the pump station at McNairy County Jail
• $30,000 each in Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) grants for Erin (Houston County, wastewater improvement engineering), Vanleer (Dickson County, planning to upgrade the town’s water system), and Gallaway (Fayette County, evaluating wastewater treatment improvement options).

Sam Stockard contributed.