New Trump rules will make it harder for farmers to access US funds for energy projects

" PROGRAM HAD BEEN PAUSED The Trump administration halted REAP applications this year as it worked to rewrite program regulations, and ‌last year ⁠it restricted eligibility for solar projects.

President Donald Trump's looming changes to ​a rural energy program that has distributed billions of dollars in recent years will make it harder for many farmers to access funds ‌for such things as solar arrays and energy efficiency projects, farmers, energy companies and analysts said.

While working on the changes, the administration had halted applications this year for the Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.