Building a Better Grid requires collaboration to effectively and efficiently ensure that the grid is providing clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to everyone, everywhere.
January 17, 2023
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Building a Better Grid requires collaboration to effectively and efficiently ensure that the grid is providing clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to everyone, everywhere.
Today, more than 158 million customers across the United States require electricity to power their lives, whether charging their phone, heating or cooling their home or, increasingly, powering their vehicles. How do we ensure that this energy is available, reliable, and affordable for everyone? The Building a Better Grid Initiative, launched by Department of Energy in 2022, is focused on bringing together stakeholders to identify national transmission and distribution needs and support the buildout of long-distance, high-voltage transmission facilities and distribution systems that are critical to creating a resilient, clean, and reliable grid. This work is supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure in nearly a century.
At the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), we know that success in administering the Building a Better Grid Initiative and deploying historic amounts of funding, anchors on partnerships with public and private sector colleagues to gather critical feedback to inform and execute programs that maximize regional and community benefits. As such GDO is committed to robust engagement and collaboration with Federal agencies, DOE’s National Labs, states, American Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives, regional grid entities, industry, unions, local communities, environmental justice organizations, and other stakeholders. Here’s a glance at some of the critical steps taken to date.
Gathering Feedback
Creating and deploying effective solutions starts first with robust feedback and information gathering. Since GDO's launch in August 2022, our staff have attended a range of conferences and meetings across the country to gather input that can inform program development, eligibility requirements, and selection criteria. This includes attending more than 40 conferences in the office’s first four months, alongside countless meetings with trade associations and State, regional, Tribal, and local groups to accumulate high-level feedback and facilitate frank discussion. These occasions have allowed us to not only introduce our office, its purpose, and our upcoming opportunities, but also to gather critical stakeholder feedback from across the country to inform how we develop programs.
In the past few months, we issued several formal calls for feedback, including requesting statements of interest from Tribal governments, Tribal enterprises, Tribal utilities, and American Indian communities to inform the development of the National Transmission Planning Study (NTP), which will inform regional and interregional transmission planning processes and identify strategies to accelerate decarbonization while maintaining system reliability. We coordinated with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to hold workshops to collect stakeholder input that will inform the development of DOE and BOEM’s strategic plans for addressing pressing offshore wind transmission challenges. And just last week, we announced an RFI to inform a new transmission siting and economic development grants program made available with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Making the Technical Accessible
GDO also recognizes that productive engagement with a wide range of stakeholders requires making technical information accessible. To do this, GDO launched the Grid and Transmission Program Conductor. This easy-to-use, online tool—which comprises a guide, briefing deck, and interactive tool—is an up-to-date clearinghouse of DOE’s transmission and grid resilience financing programs. Through the Conductor, visitors can find quick breakdowns of individual opportunities, eligibility and application requirements, and key deadlines—and quickly find the opportunities that best apply to their needs.
When it comes to individual opportunities, GDO is continuing to make complex details more accessible through tools like program-specific frequently asked questions, public program-specific webinars, and updated answers to publicly submitted questions.
As we head into 2023, GDO remains committed to robust engagement and information sharing. To stay up to date on public opportunities, webinars, and newly issued requests for information or proposals, follow us on LinkedIn and sign up for GDO’s monthly newsletter at DOE Grid Deployment Office (govdelivery.com).
Note: This blog post is part of a series in celebration of the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Building a Better Grid Initiative. Join us as we look at different components of the Initiative in action, learn about the accomplishments achieved, and get a preview of what’s to come. Learn more about the Building a Better Grid Initiative.