The Biden-Harris Administration has launched the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative on May 28 to improve the U.S. power grid's capacity, reliability, and resilience.
This initiative involves 21 states committing to prioritize modern grid solutions: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The focus is on deploying advanced conductors and grid enhancing technologies, which enhance transmission capacity and efficiency. This approach aims to integrate renewable energy sources more quickly and cost-effectively.
The initiative promotes collaboration among federal entities, states, utilities, and stakeholders to tackle issues like increased load growth, aging infrastructure, and climate change impacts. Technical and financial assistance is provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal agencies through programs such as the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program and the Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program.
To expedite project development, new categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) simplify the environmental review process for transmission upgrades. Investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) support grid enhancements and job creation.
The Justice40 Initiative ensures that 40% of the benefits from federal climate and clean energy investments reach disadvantaged communities. Additionally, the initiative plans to upgrade 100,000 miles of existing transmission lines with advanced technologies over the next five years, aiming to reduce utility bills and increase grid resilience.
