Department of Energy makes ‘largest-ever direct investment’ of $3.4B toward critical grid infrastructure

The federal government is making its largest direct investment ever in critical infrastructure of the nation’s electric grid—to strengthen infrastructure against climate change and prepare for future modernizations. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm last week announced $3.46 billion for 58 projects across 44 states to strengthen resilience and reliability in communities across America. 

“Extreme weather events fueled by climate change will continue to strain the nation’s aging transmission systems,” Granholm said in a statement. “Today’s announcement represents the largest-ever direct investment in critical grid infrastructure, supporting projects that will harden systems, improve energy reliability and affordability—all while generating union jobs for highly skilled workers.” 

The investment for a first round of investments awarded through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which is managed by the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office and received $10.5 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In total, the bipartisan legislation allotted more than $20 billion to upgrade America’s power grid.  

The latest round of funding is intended to increase the resilience, flexibility, efficiency, and reliability of electric power systems, particularly focusing on solar, wind, and other clean energy options, and on reducing faults that could lead to wildfires. Investments are also intended to improve reliability through innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution. All of the awarded projects have some sort of equity commitment built into them, and 86 percent either contain labor union partnerships or will involve collective bargaining agreements.

Recipients of this round of funding include the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority; a collaboration of public and private organizations in Louisiana and a separate project led by Entergy New Orleans; and DTE Energy in Michigan, southeastern Pennsylvania’s PECO Energy Company, PPL ELectric Utilities Corporation in the eastern part of the state, and Guquesne Light Company in Pittsburgh. A number of projects in Oregon will receive funding—including some led by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon and Portland General Electric. Several inter-regional collaborations will also receive funding, such as a Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue Transmission Study Process and Portfolio in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota.

The statement notes the importance of the equity component to improve the lives of disadvantaged people. For example, two projects in Louisiana will focus on increasing resilience and reliability in at risk neighborhoods, helping residents better withstand extreme weather. And in Georgia, the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority and other companies will collaborate to increase reliability and reduce costs through an investment of more than $507 million. 

“The project will make a comprehensive smart grid infrastructure update, through investments in battery storage, local microgrids, and grid reliability, as well as new transmission lines. With a focus on remote, hard-to-reach, and historically underinvested communities, the project will improve service reliability, decrease the frequency and duration of power outages, reduce energy bill strain on low-income households, and create more than 140 construction jobs,” the statement says. 

For those seeking more information, the energy department will host an information webinar Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. Registration is required and can be completed on the department’s website. To learn more about the Grid Deployment Office and the GRIP Program, visit the organization’s website.