The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the allocation of $125 million to nine states and five tribal nations as part of the seventh cohort of Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants. With this funding, the electric system will be modernized and strengthened against climate-related extreme weather and natural calamities and its dependability in the power sector will be increased, the DOE said in a press release.
“This year, the U.S. has already incurred $15 billion in extreme climate-related disaster costs, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen the grid to deliver dependable power supply to Americans,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a Sept. 5 press release. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and its transformative investments, we are not only fortifying the nation's electrical grid for the future but also empowering the American workforce, all while ensuring that the lights stay on in our communities.”
Through the grants, the recipients aim to reduce outage risks, lower energy costs, and address the impact of disruptive events, ultimately strengthening the energy infrastructure and improving the resilience of these communities, with a particular focus on underserved and disadvantaged populations, the release said.
Grant recipients include the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan), Beaver Village, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Mississippi, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, Washington and Wyoming, the press release said.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorized the grants. They are overseen by the DOE's Grid Deployment Office, the release said.
Over the upcoming five years, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants will disburse $2.3 billion. The allocation will be based on a formula incorporating factors including population size, land area, the likelihood and intensity of disruptive events and historical expenditures on mitigation measures in each locality, the press release said.
