A Pennsylvania farmer cuts his power bill from $2,500 to $74
Richard Perkoski operates Main Street Milk on a 590-acre farm in Pennsylvania. The farm has 300 cows, of which 220 are milked, and also produces corn and hay. Five people work on the operation. After 321 solar panels were installed on the barn roof, Perkoski reported that the monthly electricity charge fell from $2,500 to $74 in 2024.
The installation cost $284,000. The US Department of Agriculture provided $110,208 through its Rural Energy for America Program, known as REAP. Perkoski paid the remaining $174,000. He said the lower bills had released money for other farm requirements.
Electricity is used for milking machinery, vacuum pumps, lighting, heating and the cooling systems that keep milk at the required temperature. When the panels produce more power than the farm is using, the excess is sent to the grid and converted into credits. Those credits can offset electricity bought from the grid when solar output is lower.
The array produces at its full capacity for about eight months of the year, while reduced output can continue for as many as four months. Perkoski has used some of the savings to buy additional lighting for the barns. He also said he wanted to increase the herd and move towards electric tractors.
Perkoski had already used solar power before installing the dairy system. About 15 years ago, he put 200 panels on his home. In 2021, he started a separate solar farm on 48 acres in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania. That site contains 8,000 ground-mounted panels and supplied electricity to Duquesne Light Company.
In October 2024, the USDA announced an additional $104 million in REAP grants for more than 300 clean-energy projects in 34 states. The programme supports renewable-energy systems and energy-efficiency improvements for agricultural producers and rural small businesses. It was created under the 2008 Farm Bill, which initially allocated $255 million. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 later added more than $2.3 billion to the programme. REAP funding also applies to systems that use agricultural waste, including anaerobic digesters that turn organic material into biogas.
