Jael Malenke (left) and Kevin Ely, standing next to their solar array. They’re supposed to get reimbursed for half of the system’s cost, but that funding is in limbo after USDA halted payments pending review. (Photo by Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal.)

By Nick Evans – Ohio Capital Journal

Wooly Pig Farm Brewery sits on a gentle rise above Highway 36 and the Tuscarawas River in Fresno, Ohio. It takes its name from the Mangalitsa pigs covered in coats of thick curly wool, that roam the pastures nearby. Kevin Ely and Jael Malenke are the husband-and-wife team that run the brewery — Ely handles the beer and Malenke manages the business. They met in Utah and moved back to the area in 2014 when a farmstead near Malenke’s childhood home went up for sale.

Ely is a tinkerer. Two work gloves stick out of one coat pocket and the fat carpenter pencil in his chest pocket has left graphite stains where it’s rubbed against the jacket. He’s constantly looking for ways to make the brewery more efficient and even does talks for other brewers looking to streamline their operations.

From his experience at other breweries, he said, “solar comes last.” There are too many other strategies to reduce energy consumption that are simpler and cheaper. That could be reducing water use or rigging up a cheap DIY system that takes advantage of the steam generated by the brewing process.

“You can reduce your energy consumption by like, 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20, 25%,” he said.

“But we’ve done those things,” Malenke cut in.

So that’s why they were so interested in the Rural Energy for America Program. The initiative, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, offers loan financing or grant funding for farmers and rural businesses that invest in renewable energy projects to improve their energy efficiency.

At Wooly Pig, that’s a roughly $300,000 solar array on a hill above the brewery. In all, the roughly 100 kilowatt system includes more than 200 panels.

“They’re ranged in a double row on each of these six arrays — sets of arrays,” Malenke said as half a dozen pigs rooted around in the grass or played with their dogs. “They’re all high enough that we can have sheep grazing underneath them,” she added.

Under their REAP agreement, Ely and Malenke are expecting federal officials to cover $143,000 of the total investment. “That’s more than we pay in payroll here,” Malenke said, “and that includes what we take home.” But they’re currently in limbo, following the Elon Musk-linked Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts at the USDA.

For Ely and Malenke, as well as others expecting REAP funding, those dollars are “indefinitely suspended,” and subject to review by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

“I welcome DOGE’s efforts at USDA because we know that its work makes us better, stronger, faster and more efficient,” Rollins said on her first day in office. “I will expect full access and transparency to DOGE in the days and weeks to come.”

The stakes for the brewery

Ely and Malenke have apps on their cellphones that monitor the amount of energy their array generates in real time.

“I’m probably looking, depending on the day, between four and six times a day,” Malenke said with a grin.

“Yeah, I might be doing — well, I might be eight or 10,” Ely said.

He’s tracking it closely because he’s looking for ways to stretch that power past sunset. They don’t have a battery system, so Ely said he’s working on running a boiler during the day and then using a heat exchanger to make use of that hot water in the evening.

Malenke said the brewery spends between $1,500 and $2,500 a month on power. The new solar array is designed to cover half of that, and with a few tweaks here or there, Ely is hoping they can push that to 60%.

Saving about $12,000 a year on energy costs would make a big difference for their business.

“I mean, that’s pay raises for our employees,” Ely said.

But losing out on the REAP reimbursement would be a major setback.

“And that’s it,” Ely explained. “The thing is, is that we probably wouldn’t have built — we would not have built an array for this price. We would have built something half as big or maybe we would have done it ourselves.”

Although working with a reputable contractor was more expensive, they went forward because it would leave them with a better built and longer lasting system while allowing them to focus on doing their actual jobs.

“There was very little risk associated with this project,” Ely said.

“We thought it was a risk-free project,” Malenke cut in.

“If we knew there was significant risk …” Ely broke off. “I mean, there was no evidence of it being risky.”

Gemstone Gas & Welding Supply

About half an hour from Wooly Pig in New Philadelphia, Rich Mushrush runs Gemstone Gas and Welding Supplies. In addition to gear for welders, they pump their own gases, “oxygen, argon, nitrogen, CO2, all the mixes,” he said, before his phone started ringing. He’s been calling around, twisting arms, to get a mechanic out to fix the muffler on a delivery truck.

“We pride ourselves on service,” he explained after securing a visit. “That’s how we kind of get over with the big companies. They can’t do what we do.”

Mushrush qualified for the REAP program and construction on his solar array started this week. Based on the project plans, he thinks the system will save him about $1,000 on his electric bill each month. If that back of the envelope math holds, the system would pay for itself in about two and a half years. But without the federal subsidy, Mushrush explained, that timeline stretches to more like 12 or 13 years.

“I thought s—, I might be dead by then,” he chuckled. “I’m 65 years old.”

Mushrush is frustrated about the financial pinch he’ll feel if the REAP funding doesn’t come through. “It’s a stinger to me,” he acknowledged, “and a lot of other small businesses — farmers.”

But his biggest objection is a moral one. If the federal government has decided the program is too generous, he argued, there’s nothing wrong with dialing it back going forward. “But the ones that are already in it,” he argued, “I think they should be grandfathered.”

“I just go from a commonsense standpoint,” Mushrush said. “How can they renege or back-claw on you, on a contract that is signed, sealed and delivered?

Broader picture

Both Wooly Pig and Gemstone worked with Paradise Energy Solutions to install their solar arrays, and company CEO Dale Good said their stories aren’t unique. The company operates in eight states and Good said Ohio is getting hit particularly hard by the suspension of REAP funding.

In an average year, he said, they handle around 40 or so solar projects with REAP contracts, and USDA’s funding halt has affected nearly three quarters of their projects.

In a written statement, a USDA spokesperson blamed the funding delay on the Biden administration for “exploit(ing) Congressional intent” by misusing funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

REAP has been around since 2014, preceding both of those pieces of legislation. And far from exceeding congressional intent, the Inflation Reduction Act specifically appropriated additional funding for the program.

The spokesperson went on to suggest that with a flurry of last-minute funding decisions, the Biden administration was “making promises they knew the department would not be able to keep.”

But for the Wooly Pig project at least, they submitted their initial application in September 2023 and got notice of their award more than a year ago in February 2024. Gemstone’s application went in last June and got approved in September.

“Fortunately,” the USDA spokesperson continued, “President Trump is taking strong action to rein in reckless spending, cut needless regulations and make the entire federal government more effective at serving the American people, including our farmers.”

“As part of this effort,” the spokesperson added, “Secretary Rollins is carefully reviewing this funding and will provide updates as soon as they are made available.”

For what it’s worth, Rollins has released some of the previously frozen funding. Late last month she cleared $20 million for a trio of conservation programs, but no word yet on REAP funding.

And at the end of the day, everything might work out fine.  Wooly Pig has had their array up and running for about two weeks, but they need proof of it running for a month to make their final submission to release the funds they’ve been awarded. With the Gemstone array still under construction, Mushrush is a few months behind them.

But Ely and Malenke are nervous and already working on contingency plans if the funding doesn’t come through.

“Because, I mean, even if it does,” Ely said, “maybe it’s going to be, like, a lot longer down the road.”

“Our safety net — our cushion is gone,” he added. “So, right now, like nothing else seriously bad can happen.”

“Yeah, that’s our other plan,” Malenke laughed. “Have no more bad things happen.”

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Nick Evans on X or on Bluesky.