The Grid Deployment Office (GDO) has released an amendment to the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants, a $2.3 billion program supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. This amendment increases formula grant allocations for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to better account for the probability of disruptive events on Tribal lands. To encourage participation, GDO also extended the Tribal application deadline to August 31, 2023.
“Community and stakeholder engagement is critical as we stand up programs to disperse the historic investments in our electric grid made by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office. "The enhancements made to our Grid Resilience State and Formula Grants ensure these funds will have the strongest impact while providing time to offer technical assistance and support to all eligible applicants.”
The Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants, part of the Building a Better Grid Initiative, are non-competitive grants available to Indian Tribes, States, and Territories, based on a formula that incorporates five factors: population size, land area, probability of and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts. The recent formula updates were made in response to improved use of available disaster data and increased the formula grant allocations for 243 Tribes for FY22 and FY23. No formula grant allocations are reduced as a result of this update.
The application deadline for FY22 and FY23 grants has been extended for Indian Tribes including Alaska Native Corporations until August 31, 2023, at 11:59 ET (with a mail-in option post-marked by this date). GDO will assist affected Tribes who have already submitted in modifying a submitted application if they wish to apply for their increased allocations.
The Formula Grant deadline for States and Territories has not changed and remains May 31, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET. Applications continue to be accepted on a rolling basis.
