States, Tribal Nations Receive Grants Totaling $207.6 Million for Grid Resilience

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 11, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy on July 6 announced nine states and three tribal nations as the third cohort to receive a combined total of $207.6 million in grid resilience state and tribal formula grants.

Here are details on how the three tribal nations will utilize the funding:

• Alaska’s Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Island Reserve will use the funding to supplement efforts to improve the resiliency of Metlakatla Power & Light, a component unit of the Tribe’s electric distribution system. The Tribe will prioritize workforce development and energy justice to reduce or eliminate the impact of disruptive events on vulnerable communities. (Amount: $113,000)
• The Native Village of Eagle in Alaska plans to address asset management and preventative maintenance and improve operational capacity so that it can reduce outage risks and increase the ability to anticipate or rapidly recover from outages. The Tribe plans to develop projects and approaches to implement backup power in case of outages for critical facilities. (Amount: $150,000) 
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota will use the funding to increase the resiliency of the power supply serving the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Reservation with a focus on increasing energy justice in the Tribal community. The Tribe plans to develop distributed energy resources and support workforce development. (Amount: $359,000)

Nine States Receive Funding

California will use the funding to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages. Selected projects will be used to advance California’s goal of achieving 100 percent clean energy through resilience solutions that deploy zero-carbon energy resources and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. (Amount: $67.5 million)

Kansas plans to promote grid equity by ensuring that funds are distributed equitably, particularly in rural, disadvantaged, and underserved communities. Grants funds will be used to promote resilience projects while advancing projects that attract, train, and retain a skilled Kansas workforce. (Amount: $13.3 million)

Kentucky will work to improve the safety and reliability of the electric grid serving critical facilities and increase the resilience capacity of critical infrastructure. Grant funds will be used to expand local workforce capacity and increase the resilience capacity of under-resourced communities and vulnerable populations by funding projects with small entities and state facilities that serve critical roles during natural disasters. (Amount: $11.1 million)

Maine’s goal is to improve community and economic resilience while empowering electric customers and communities to be resilient to disruptive events. Selected projects will be used to increase clean energy workforce opportunities and activities will align with ongoing electric grid modernization and state policy climate goals while mitigating disproportionate energy burdens. (Amount: $4.4 million)

Michigan will invest in last-mile delivery solutions for low-income customers and mitigate the risk of severe weather on critical facilities through traditional grid hardening resilience investments. Grant funds will be used to grow Michigan’s skilled workforce for grid resilience activities and support innovative non-wired alternative projects. (Amount: $14.9 million)

Minnesota will prioritize projects that will generate the greatest community benefit and enhance equity by aligning with the Justice40 initiative. With a goal of strengthening prosperity, state officials will focus on expanding good-paying, safe jobs accessible to all workers and invest in domestic supply chains. (Amount: $11.9 million)

Oregon’s goal is to deliver benefits to disadvantaged communities and nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon as defined by the Justice40 Initiative, while maximizing community benefits that complement grid resilience projects. Grant funds will be used to further refine program objectives, metrics, and criteria for future years to ensure program funds address the most pressing grid resilience needs. (Amount: $19.9 million)

Rhode Island will work to address electric resilience threats through a bottom-up approach to identify innovative projects with robust municipal collaboration. State officials will develop a replicable planning framework which will leverage this funding opportunity with other competitive or private funding opportunities. (Amount: $3.4 million)

Texas will use grant funds to identify gaps in grid resilience and minimize disruption to normal grid operations during weather events with weatherization and modeling technologies, as well as vegetation and fuel load management. Furthermore, Texas will increase the skilled workforce by assuring that any installed resilience measures can be operated and maintained without contractor support, whenever possible. (Amount: $60.6 million) 

Over the next five years, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants will distribute a total of $2.3 billion to States, Territories, and federally recognized tribes, including Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Village Corporations, based on a formula that includes factors such as population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts.

The States, Territories, and tribes will then award these funds to complete a set of projects, with priority given to efforts that generate the greatest community benefit while providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy, DOE said.

Additional Grid Resilience Formula Grant recipients will be announced on a rolling basis in the coming months as applications are received.

The fiscal year (FY) 22 and FY 23 application deadline for States and Territories was May 31, 2023. The FY 22 and FY 23 application deadline for Indian tribes, including Alaska Native Corporations, is August 31, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET (with a mail-in option post-marked by this date).