A $13 million federal grant, issued as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will lower the costs of electricity for Mesa County’s Grand Valley Power members. The grant will also help the electric co-op to move to greener, more renewable energy sources. But the big question now is: Will the Trump Administration follow the law or break it?

The money is intended to be used to purchase more than 26 megawatts from the new Garnet Mesa Solar facility being constructed in Delta County. That’s enough to pay for nearly 40% of Grand Valley Power’s residential power requirements, or nearly 6,600 homes per year. It is expected this will also save more than $700,000 annually for Grand Valley Power users.

Grand Valley Power has a stated goal of obtaining 60% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030. The co-op said with the grant program from the IRA, they will actually be able to achieve 100% by then, and more cheaply than at current costs. They also said the project will reduce climate pollution by more than 60,000 tons per year, and create many jobs, both short- and long-term.

So now it just remains to be seen if the Trump Administration is going to honor the commitment from the government. Tom Walch, CEO of Grand Valley Power, said he believed it would require an act of Congress to change the agreement, but much is unsettled due to the Trump Administration’s aggressive (and potentially illegal) efforts to claim an “impoundment power” for the President have cast uncertainty over what would otherwise have been a normal procedure.