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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $2.2 billion investment in the nation’s grid for eight projects across 18 states to protect against growing threats of extreme weather events, lower costs for communities, and catalyze additional grid capacity to meet load growth stemming from an increase in manufacturing and data centers. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, the selected projects are expected to catalyze nearly $10 billion in total public and private investment to bring reliable, affordable, clean energy to Americans.
This deployment of new, innovative transmission infrastructure and technology upgrades to the existing grid will add nearly 13 gigawatts (GW) of grid capacity—including 4,800 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind—allowing more clean power to reach customers across the country. These projects will create at least 5,000 jobs and upgrade more than 1,000 miles of transmission in total.
Part of DOE’s Building a Better Grid Initiative and authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the GRIP Program funding represents the federal government’s single largest direct investment into critical grid infrastructure. The selections were made through Grid Innovation Program grants, one of three GRIP funding mechanisms that seek to deploy projects that use innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to enhance grid resilience and reliability.
Selected projects will leverage:
Innovative transmission infrastructure to improve grid resilience and reliability and integrate more clean energy to the grid. Two projects will deploy large new transmission lines totaling about 625 miles that will increase grid capacity by about 4,300 MW by deploying high voltage, direct current (HVDC) technology, among other things.
Advanced technology upgrades to deploy innovative grid technologies including advanced conductors, dynamic line ratings, microgrids, and advanced distribution management systems to increase grid capacity using existing rights of way.
The U.S. is projected to build more new electric generation capacity this year while also mobilizing to upgrade thousands of miles of existing transmission lines. This includes catalyzing nationwide collaboration on modern grid technologies and funding their deployment, accelerating transmission permitting, and increasing grid capacity to support electricity demand to support increased electrification, data centers, and manufacturing.
In addition to the Grid Innovation Program, the GRIP Program includes two additional funding mechanisms. Grid Resilience Utility and Industry Grants provide funding to the private sector to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other disruptive events that are exacerbated by the effects of climate change, with a focus on grid hardening efforts. Smart Grid Grants fund technology investments that will increase how much power the grid can handle; prevent faults that may lead to wildfires or other system disturbances, integrate more renewable energy; and facilitate the integration of electrified vehicles, buildings, and other devices.
The second round of selections for GRIP’s the Grid Resilience Utility and Industry Grants and the Smart Grid Grants will be announced later this year.
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