Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON – Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a loan of $50,000,000 to San Miguel Electric Cooperative.
This Rural Development investment will help San Miguel Electric Cooperative fund system improvements for a lignite-fired steam electric generating unit. The funding will be on loan for 19 years and will strengthen eight rural electric cooperatives that serve approximately 270,000 residential and commercial consumers in 42 counties across Texas – including the 15th District of Texas.
“The 15th District of Texas is home to residents and businesses that will benefit from this funding,” Congressman Gonzalez said. “I have witnessed, alongside the Co-op’s General Manager Mike Kezar, the economic benefits and job growth potential that shale development can produce. I thank the USDA for investing in the state of Texas and look forward to the strength it will bring to communities in Central and South Texas.”
Congressman Gonzalez is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Oil and Gas Caucus, a Congressional Member Organization dedicated to educating Members of Congress about issues related to the production, transport, refining, distribution, and trade of oil, gas, and other petroleum hydrocarbons including crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.
The congressman is a strong proponent of maximizing American energy resources and ensuring that every American has access to affordable energy. The Eagle Ford Shale, potentially the largest economic development in Texas, runs through the congressman’s district and has created thousands of jobs in the region. Rural electric delivers affordable and reliable electricity, Internet, air conditioning, heating, and solar services to more than four million Texans and over 300,000 in the 15th District of Texas.
