Energy Conservation Program (E-CAP)

NCTTFC cost-share assistance will provide 25% cost-share grants to WNC farmers for energy efficiency or renewable energy projects that increase agricultural output and/or decrease energy costs. The program will become a cornerstone of our current energy outreach program, the Energy Conservation Assistance Program (E-CAP), which has been connecting with WNC farms to provide the technical and application assistance necessary for shovel-ready energy projects. Our goal with NCTTFC Energy for Farms is to address the funding deficit we have discovered in the assistance programs currently available (NRCS-EQIP, USDA-REAP) toward the small farmers in formerly tobacco-dependent counties who do not have the higher levels of working capital that these programs expect. Project examples that farmers are currently seeking funding for through our outreach efforts; solar-PV electricity for cold storage rooms, insulating processing rooms and greenhouses, and more.