President Biden visits Westby, brings message of greater power investment in rural U.S.

Five months after becoming president in 2021, Joe Biden traveled to La Crosse to talk about the need for electricity and good internet service in parts of rural America.

This week, with four months left before his term ends, Biden returned to the Coulee Region to announce billions of dollars in new spending on electric cooperatives.

The president spent about three hours in the area Thursday, landing in La Crosse and then traveling to the Vernon Electric Cooperative office in Westby to announce the electricity initiative.

Biden was joined by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin Farmers Union president Darin Von Ruden, state Assembly Rep. Jill Billings (D-La Crosse) and La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds, among others.

Sixteen cooperatives are expected to share the $7.5 billion being allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in 2022.

“This will create jobs, improve quality of life for residents of rural areas across the state, and help lower energy costs,” Billings said.

According to one interest group, that includes the Dairyland Power Cooperative of western Wisconsin, which plans to increase its use of wind and solar energy.

The law invests roughly $13 billion in rural electrification across multiple programs and will create more than 4,000 permanent jobs.

During his speech at the co-op, Biden added that the infrastructure law provided 72,000 homes and businesses in Wisconsin with high-speed internet.

“This funding will help Dairyland Power Cooperative build new solar and wind power installations and supply hundreds of thousands of homes across the Midwest with clean electricity while also reducing energy costs for existing customers,” Billings added. “Progress like this will create a better and more energy efficient future for the Coulee Region.”

Biden’s goal is to lower the cost of electricity in hard-to-reach regions of the country. Biden says the investments “mean family farms can stay in the family.”

Biden also referred to a promise he made during a visit to the La Crosse MTU during his first year as president in 2021. At that time, Biden said better internet service is not a “luxury,” but “a necessity, like water and electricity.”

Air Force One landed at the La Crosse Regional Airport before the Westby visit, and Biden’s party returned to La Crosse for departure by helicopter.

President Biden’s trip to Westby came exactly a week after former President Donald Trump took part in a town hall meeting at the La Crosse Center.

Biden announced in July that he was ending his campaign for a second term as president, and Vice President Kamala Harris was named the Democratic Party nominee.