Two U.S. Dept. of Energy clean power funding programs this month awarded a total of $3.5 billion to an array of projects to support expanded transmission infrastructure and improved climate resilience across the nation.
DOE announced Oct. 18 nearly $2 billion for 38 projects in 42 states and the District of Columbia that will shore up the U.S. They include six Florida projects that President Joe Biden previously announced for infrastructure affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton—including those to modernize more than 950 miles of transmission with new power lines and increased capacity.
All of the projects will be funded by the federal Investing in America Agenda, which includes $95.9 billion for initiatives to speed development of clean energy, clean buildings and clean manufacturing. Federal permitting will be streamlined for new projects, the agency said.
Projects chosen to improve grid reliability and resilience include those being built by utility Arizona Public Service in the Southwest for 289,000 meter customers. Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative in Bloomington, Ind. and Southern Illinois Power Cooperative in Marion, Ill., will build transmission feeds to 10 substations in seven counties, with other projects involving Randolph Electric Membership Corp. in Asheboro, N.C. and Entergy Texas Inc. in The Woodlands, Texas, also awarded funding.
Boston-based GridUnity plans “to deploy software to improve efficiency of the interconnection process with multiple regional transmission organizations,” said DOE, the press release noted. Elevate Renewables, also based there, received $27.5 million to integrate a 20-MW battery energy storage system into an existing fossil-fuel peaking power plant in Milford, Conn.
In eight states, including Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky, the Tennessee Valley Authority will “create its first interconnection tie" with grid operator Southwest Power Pool, to provide the federally owned utility and local power companies with 800 MW of new energy supply, DOE added. Its $250 million grant will fund 84 energy security projects, and also is set to reduce localized outage duration by 94% and enable cost savings of $250 million for 360 disadvantaged communities.
Maine Power Link
Earlier this month, the department also announced a $1.5 billion grant award to support four transmission projects set to add 1,000 miles of new transmission infrastructure and 7,100 MW of new capacity in Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Among those, the Aroostook Renewable Project by utility firm Avangrid would involve a new substation in Haynesville, Maine and a 111-mile, 1,200-MW capacity transmission line to link to the Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE) system. The potential $425-million project expects to provide New England with access to low-cost clean energy generated in northern Maine.
The state Public Utilities Commission now is about to issue a transmission line Request for Proposals, with the power generation portion being solicited separately. Avangrid said it would participate in the RFP process and include the awarded $425 million capacity contract as part of its proposal.
Construction of this high-voltage line will "relieve transmission constraints that have stalled the development of renewable resources in northern Maine for years," said Avangrid, which also plans to invest more than $15 million in disadvantaged communities in the state. It said Maine utility regulators will likely announce winning bids in 2025.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (R) said the federal investment—among the largest ever in Maine—”has the power to transform the energy future of northern Maine" by no longer requiring import of fossil fuels from out-of-state.
She signed a bill in June 2023 that planned for a clean energy project in northern Maine. The effort failed due to local opposition, but the utilities commission reopened the project procurement in May.
Other U.S. transmission projects include the estimated $306-million Cimarron Link, a 400-mile high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission line from Texas County, Okla. to Tulsa, Okla.; Southern Spirit, a new 320-mile HVDC line connecting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid to others outside the state for the first time; and Southline, a new 108-mile transmission line that will deliver 1,000 MW of new, bidirectional capacity between Hidalgo County, N.M. and Las Cruces, N.M.
Grid operator ISO of New England, "believes there are four key pillars required to support our rapidly approaching clean energy future, one of which is a robust transmission system," said spokesperson Mary Cate Colapietro. "This is critical to integrating renewable resources and ensuring energy is delivered efficiently to consumers across New England.”
Announced through the DOE Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP), the chosen projects “will deploy new, innovative transmission and distribution infrastructure and technology upgrades to enable more than 7.5 GW of grid capacity and speed interconnection for new clean energy projects," the agency said, predicting a total of "more than $4.2 billion in total public and private investment to bring affordable, clean energy to Americans."
The GRIP program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is investing $10.5 billion in communities nationwide.
DOE also released a new National Transmission Planning study that found the U.S. will need to double or even triple its 2020 transmission capacity by 2050 to meet demand growth and reliability needs. But it says a major system expansion ”could lead to savings of $270 billion to $490 billion through 2050."
In addition, the department selected t5 states and American Samoa to gain up to $28 million to fund workforce development expansion and training in commercial and residential sector energy efficiency and auditing.
For the commercial sector, Georgia and Hawaii agencies have been awarded funding and Massachusetts and Nevada were picked to negotiate final funding details, DOE said Oct. 23
For the residential sector, Illinois, Minnesota and American Samoa were awarded funding, as well as Tennessee, which will partner with Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to fill regional demand; and Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington State were chosen to negotiate.
