November 2024 Grid Deployment Office Newsletter

38 Projects Across 42 States Will Upgrade Nearly 1,000 Miles of Transmission, Increase Grid Capacity for Growing Electricity Demand, and Deliver Thousands of Jobs

In support of the Biden-Harris Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced nearly $2 billion for 38 projects that will protect the U.S. power grid against growing threats of extreme weather, lower costs for communities, and increase grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing, data centers, and electrification. The selected projects announced through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program will deploy new, innovative transmission and distribution infrastructure and technology upgrades to enable over 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of grid capacity, speed up interconnection for new energy projects, support nearly 6,000 good-paying jobs, and catalyze over $4.2 billion in total public and private investment to bring reliable and affordable energy to Americans. A full list of GRIP projects, including awards finalized to date, is available here.

U.S. Department of Energy Continues Efforts to Modernize Electric Grid to Deliver Reliable and Affordable Energy Across the Country, in 5 Territories and Among 254 Tribal Nations

DOE announced that 49 states, 5 territories, 254 Tribal Nations, and the District of Columbia have received a combined total of $473.6 million in fiscal year (FY) 2024 Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants to modernize the electric grid to reduce the impacts of extreme weather events while also ensuring the reliability of the power sector. Supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, the Grid Resilience Formula Grant program is designed to strengthen America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. A full list of allocations awarded to date by state, tribe, and territory is available online.

Selected Projects Will Provide States with Critical Insight into Market Design, Expansion, and Improvement Activities

DOE announced up to a total of just under $10 million for six projects to improve state and regional engagement in wholesale electricity markets. The Wholesale Electricity Market Studies and Engagement (WEMSE) Program provides funding to states and regions related to developing, expanding, or improving wholesale electricity markets. The six projects announced today will help facilitate the improvement or creation of more efficient and flexible wholesale markets, which will be essential to ensure grid resilience and reliability as new loads and generation come online.

Transmission Acceleration Grants Program Will Support Development of Efficient and Effective Planning, Siting, and Permitting Processes

The Grid Deployment Office announced $10 million available to states, tribes, and non-profit organizations to accelerate transmission deployment through the Transmission Acceleration Grants (TAG) Program. Created in response to feedback from state and tribal entities facing growing transmission needs and project backlogs, the TAG Program will support capacity building and local and regional transmission planning or siting and permitting process reforms. TAG funding will allow states and tribes to engage in transmission planning and conduct efficient and effective siting and permitting processes, which will collectively help advance transmission infrastructure at a faster rate, increasing access to a diverse array of energy sources, reducing transmission congestion and energy prices, and delivering reliable, affordable power to consumers when and where they need it.

Applications for the first round of TAG funding are due by January 21, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. ET.

To share how historic levels of federal and private investment are positively impacting communities across the country, this monthly newsletter from GDO showcases grid projects that have successfully completed award negotiations and are beginning work.

Read the full list of project awards finalized last month.
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Nestled in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Estes Park is a remote community well-acquainted with the challenges of extreme weather. As Joe Lockhart, an employee of Estes Park Power and Communications, puts it, "In the past two years, the town has lost 100% power three times." These power outages, often caused by severe weather events like wildfires, floods, and winter storms, disrupt daily life and critical services that keep Estes Park running. To address this, the town has taken a proactive step towards a more resilient future by partnering with GDO, the Colorado Energy Office, the Colorado Resiliency Office, Platte River Power Authority, and Estes Park Power and Communications to implement a battery energy storage system initiative.

Read the full story.

Over the past few months, GDO has launched new educational videos about our transmission scope of work, GDO Transmission Videos. The topics include:

• Transmission 101
• Siting and Permitting of Offshore Wind Transmission
• Transforming Transmission: Transmission Siting and Economic Development (TSED) Grants
• Transforming Transmission: National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC)

Check out the videos.