Solar Power Company in Michigan

Harvest Energy Solutions Testifies before U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee

September 28, 2017

Mark Olinyk, President of Michigan EIBC member company Harvest Energy Solutions, testified in favor of the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) in the 2018 Farm Bill before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry yesterday. Olinyk – whose Jackson, Michigan-based company designs, sells, and installs solar panels for its agricultural and rural customers – stated that much of his business’s success and growth was due to REAP’s inclusion in the 2014 Farm Bill.

“REAP has been a component of nearly a quarter of our business,” Olinyk said in Committee. “Not only is it critical to our bottom line, REAP allows our clients to save electricity, save money, achieve greater efficiencies, and make their operations more stable, less risky, and more profitable.”

REAP grants and loans are available to assist farmers and rural business owners invest in renewable energy systems or to make energy efficient improvements.

Beyond this, Olinyk explained, the program helps to grow the clean and efficient energy industry and “create jobs across rural America.”

The reauthorization bill will have to pass out of Committee before being voted on by the full Senate, and then the House.