On January 11, 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled its “Building a Better Grid” Initiative to upgrade and expand high-capacity electric transmission lines nationwide. In partnership with community and industry stakeholders, the Initiative seeks to identify critical national transmission needs required to enhance grid reliability and resilience amid the ongoing impacts of climate change. As announced, the DOE intends to launch a transmission deployment program to implement the Initiative across five broad categories: coordination, planning, financing, permitting, and continued transmission related research and development.
Industry stakeholders are incentivized to engage in the process via new and existing financing programs intended to catalyze investments in transmission. This includes $2.5 billion in revolving funds established by the Transmission Facilitation Program to enable the construction of upgraded transmission lines and $3 billion to provide matching grants for the deployment of advanced transmission technologies via the Deployment of Technologies to Increase Capacity and Enhance Flexibility of the Existing Grid. Stakeholders may also participate in the coordination and planning process by engaging in regional meetings and DOE-facilitated studies concerning national transmission planning.
The DOE Notice of Intent (prepublication version) is available here.
For more information, please contact Jeff Genzer.
