PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 14, 2025
A freeze on federal loans and grants is creating turmoil for rural U.S. business owners who fear they won’t get reimbursed for new, cleaner irrigation equipment or solar panels they purchased with the promise of a rebate. In Cherryville, Maine, Hugh Lassen and family grow organic blueberries on their Intervale Farm. Last year they purchased solar panels to run their home, a blueberry sorter and 14 freezers. They did it thinking they’d get an $8,000 grant through the Rural Energy for America Program. President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on giving out these funds, but federal judges have said departments can disburse them. Yet many departments have not resumed writing checks.