WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced three states and nine tribal nations will receive a combined total of $48.4 million as the sixth cohort of Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants. Supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, these grants will help modernize the electric grid to reduce impacts of climate-driven extreme weather and natural disasters while also ensuring power sector reliability. This funding will enable communities to access affordable, reliable, clean electricity while helping deliver on the President’s ambitious clean energy goals. 

“From remote and rural communities to urban centers, it is essential that every pocket of America has a strong and reliable energy grid that can deploy cleaner, cheaper power to homes and businesses, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to the transformative investments in grid infrastructure under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are preparing the nation for a more resilient, clean energy future.” 

Since May 2023, DOE has distributed more than $455.5 million in Grid Resilience Formula Grants thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. Today’s cohort of three states and nine tribal nations will receive a combined total of $48.4 million. 

• Alaska will reduce the likelihood and consequences of natural hazard events like winter storms, extreme temperatures, and landslides causing disruption to normal grid operations and critical facilities. Grant funds will be used to reduce the energy burden and the cost experienced by customers within disadvantaged communities or tribal lands, as well as all areas served by the resilience investment, due to inadequate electric grid infrastructure. (Amount: $22 million)
• Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation will decrease the frequency and duration of electrical outages on the Reservation and address the energy burden experienced by low-income tribal members and disadvantaged communities. The funding will also enhance the tribal workforce, update failing infrastructure, and advance energy justice by focusing on projects on the reservation with a preference for projects on trust lands. (Amount: $458,123)
• Chalkyitsik Village will support a continuous supply of power in the system and will improve grid reliability by decreasing the number of outages and improving the ability to recover after severe weather events. The grant funding will also be used to develop battery energy storage for critical facilities and will support addressing the energy burden experienced by low-income tribal members. (Amount: $112,439)
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation will decrease the frequency and duration of electrical outages on the Reservation and address the energy burden experienced by low-income tribal members and disadvantaged communities. The grant funds will also enhance the tribal workforce, allow updates to failing infrastructure, and advance energy justice by focusing on projects on the reservation. (Amount: $1.3 million)
• Fort Sill Apache Tribe will ensure critical tribal facilities are not impacted by disruptive events such as extreme weather and will implement improved controls, automation, and communication technology to enhance local grid operations and control. Grant funds will also be used to address outdated or failing infrastructure and support tribal workforce development to support grid resilience measures. (Amount: $684,000)
• Galena Village (aka Louden Village) will support a continuous supply of power to consumers, reduce outage risks, develop projects and approaches for backup power, and advance partnerships with utilities to develop clean energy. (Amount: $112,894)
• Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians will ensure critical tribal community facilities are not impacted by extreme weather and other disruptive events and will address the energy burden faced by the tribal community. The grant funds will also be used to increase the skilled workforce within the tribe, support good-paying jobs, address capacity limitations, and invest in modernizing the energy infrastructure. (Amount: $183,155)
• Native Village of Port Graham will maintain a continuous supply of power that is acceptable to consumers, and will reduce outage risks, and improve the ability to recover from disruptive events. The grant funds will also support battery storage for critical facilities and improve partnerships between the Tribe and utilities to support affordability and improved service to tribal members. (Amount: $181,493)
• Seneca Nation of Indians will ensure critical community facilities are not impacted by extreme weather events and will address the energy burden experienced by low-income tribal members. The grant funding will also be used to increase the skilled tribal energy workforce, and invest in modernizing the electric grid, including addressing outdated or failing infrastructure. (Amount: $479,021)
• Summit Lake Paiute Tribe will ensure critical facilities are not impacted by disruptive events by providing backup power to enhance system adaptive capacity and will reduce disruptions to grid operations from extreme weather events. The grant funds will also increase the tribal workforce to support energy resilience, and will allow investments in grid modernization, while increasing electrification in response to evolving needs. (Amount: $115,833)
• Utah will reduce the overall negative impacts of disruptive events on Utah’s residential and commercial power end users. Laborers and mechanics employed on projects selected through Utah’s competitive solicitation will receive wages equivalent to or better than prevailing wages on similar projects in the area and grant funds will be used to retain an appropriately skilled workforce which may include partnering with labor unions and/or educational institutions with a particular focus on underrepresented or historically excluded workers. (Amount: $12 million)
• Virginia will conduct enhanced grid modeling for transmission and distribution planning to reduce disruptions by informing strategic investment and deployment of innovative technologies. Grant funds will be used to address outdated or failing energy infrastructure equipment and materials like power lines, power poles, transformers, and bucket trucks serving Virginia communities. (Amount: $11 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 diverse set of projects, with priority given to efforts that generate the greatest community benefit while providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

Grid Resilience Formula Grant recipients are being announced on a rolling basis 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).

Learn more about the Grid Deployment Office.