During his visit to Westby, Wisconsin, President Joe Biden announced a historic $7.3 billion investment in rural electrification, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. This funding will support 16 electric cooperatives across 23 states, aiming to improve energy access and lower costs for about 5 million households in rural areas. Biden emphasized that this is the largest investment in rural electric cooperatives since the New Deal era in the 1930s and noted the challenges cooperatives face in modernizing their infrastructure. The president's visit marks his first since dropping out of the presidential race, and it is part of a series of trips to promote his administration's infrastructure achievements. He highlighted the importance of such investments in fostering economic competition and providing essential services to rural communities. The administration projects that these initiatives will create thousands of jobs in the construction and energy sectors.