Grid Resilience Grants

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Grid Resilience Grants

U.S. Department of Energy — Section 40101(d) Formula Grant to States & Indian Tribes

Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ("IIJA"), the Department of Energy provides formula grants to states for projects that will improve the resilience of the electric grid against events in which operations of the electric grid are disrupted, preventively shut off, or cannot operate safely due to extreme weather, wildfire, or a natural disaster. The Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) will manage the application process, review of expenses and reimbursement for eligible entities. Funding will be provided on a reimbursement basis.

State Agency Partners

This program is administered in partnership with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). These agencies have established the program's objectives and supporting metrics to guide decisions involving resilience investments made with this grant.

Funding Breakdown

DOE will provide $459 million in funding annually over a period of five years to States and Indian Tribes. State and tribal allocations are subject to annual formula calculations. TDEM anticipates approximately $150 million in federal funding will be made available to Texas.

Resources

Application Period

The application period will remain open through June 28, 2024 at 5:00 PM CST. Applications must be submitted in the TDEM Grants Management System (GMS).

Texas will undertake a one-time process of reviewing applications from eligible entities and issuing subawards over the five-year period.

Please review the below information for program details, including entities that may apply and eligible resilience measures. For additional details, please review the resources linked above. All resilience projects must align with TDEM's DOE-Approved Program Narrative.

Eligible Entities

  • Electric grid operators
  • Electricity storage operators
  • Electricity generators
  • Transmission owners or operators
  • Distribution providers
  • Fuel suppliers

Eligible Resilience Measures

Preferred Measures

  • Weatherization technologies and equipment
  • Fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems
  • Monitoring and control technologies
  • Vegetation and fuel load management
  • Adaptive protection technologies
  • Advanced modeling technologies

Other Eligible Measures

  • The undergrounding of electrical equipment
  • Utility pole management
  • Relocation of power lines or the reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors
  • The use or construction of distributed energy resources for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events, including microgrids and battery-storage components
  • Hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, of other systems
  • Replacement of old overheard conductors and underground cables

Ineligible Measures

Funds may not be used for construction of a new electric generating facility or large-scale battery-storage facility that is not used for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events. Costs to support or oppose union organizing, whether directly or as an off set for other funds, are ineligible. Additionally, funds may not be used for cybersecurity.

Cost Match Requirement

Funds are subject to the following cost matching requirements:

An eligible entity that receives a subaward under this program is required to match 100 percent of the amount of the subaward. However, if the eligible entity sells not more than 4,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity per-year, the required match will be one-third of the amount of the subaward. Eligible entities must also provide the 15 percent match required to be provided by the state.