AEA invites electric grid grant applications

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

The Alaska Energy Authority has announced that it is inviting applications for funding for improvements to electricity grid resilience anywhere in Alaska. The funding comes from $22.1 million in federal funding awarded through the Department of Energy's Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant Program. The state is also providing a 15% matching grant as part of the funding program. The federal funding results from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in 2022.

Funding applications must be filed by 4 p.m. on Feb. 16.

AEA says that the funding comes as part of a broader federal effort to accelerate the deployment of transformative electrical infrastructure projects, to improve the resilience to disruptive events of utility-scale electrical systems. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, transmission system hardening; vegetation management; power line relocation, replacement and under-grounding; and the implementation of monitoring and control technologies. For this particular round of requests for applications, AEA is particularly interested in proposed projects that involve electricity transmission assets operating at voltages of at least 69 kilovolts.

Any relevant entities may apply, including electric grid operators; electricity storage operators; electricity generation operators; transmission owners or operators; and fuel suppliers.

This represents the first tranche of funding under the DOE program -- Alaska expects to receive about $60 million in formula funding over the program's five-year extent, AEA says.

--ALAN BAILEY