Biden Administration Investments Will Bolster Grid Resilience in the Wake of Severe Storms

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced nearly $2 billion in investments for 38 projects that will strengthen the electric grid to increase resilience and reliability in the face of increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events and help connect clean energy to the grid. Today’s announcement follows a series of grid investments made earlier this week to support communities impacted by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. All of these projects are part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which commits $10.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law toward bolstering grid reliability and resilience.

“The widespread power outages in communities impacted by Hurricanes Milton and Helen have put a spotlight on the vital need for grid resilience,” said Ted Kelly, Director and Lead Counsel, U.S. Clean Energy at Environmental Defense Fund. “We must upgrade and prepare an electricity grid that was largely built in the 20th century for the rising challenges of the 21st century – including more frequent and severe storms fueled by climate change.

“These investments will help build stronger connections more resilient to storms across the country, whether you're in North Carolina, Oregon or anywhere in between. They will help prevent and detect wildfires in the Southwest. They will help increase the Tennessee Valley Authority’s connections with neighboring states and ability to connect new solar panels. And they will help demonstrate the potential of new technologies by upgrading the capacity and reliability of existing transmission lines with advanced conductors and deploying new software to accelerate integration of clean energy.

“Today’s announcement, along with recent investments that will strengthen the grid across the Southeast, demonstrate the Biden administration’s commitment to providing affordable, reliable, clean power for everyone.”