The Biden administration, through the Department of Energy, will send $2.2 billion in funding across eight projects in 18 states to improve electrical grids. The main reason is to strengthen that part of the infrastructure against threats from more extreme weather as a byproduct of climate change.
In addition, there are expectations of lowering costs to communities and increasing transmission capacity to better enable increased loads needed for increased demand from manufacturing and data centers.
Another need for updated electrical infrastructure is electric vehicles, both consumer and commercial. The administration has been strong emphasis on EVs, with separate funding of $1.7 billion going to automotive manufacturers to make more of the devices, as an example.
Providing sufficient power generation and transmissions for electric trucks is another grid issue. Consumer EVs can charge overnight using normal residential current. Using Southern California as an example, power lines typically operate at 4 kilovolts to 12 kilovolts. A typical warehouse might have power lines that handle up to 33 kilovolts.
Electric truck charging terminals need much more power and likely a direct connection to a substation, which can deliver 10 megawatts or more, rather than normal overhead lines. Substations typically need between 2 and 10 acres, they’re built by the electrical utilities, and depending on the locale and utility, could take 10 years to construct.
According to the DOE, the funding comes through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The $2.2 billion in funding is supposed to “catalyze nearly $10 billion in total public and private investment to bring reliable, affordable, clean energy to Americans.”
The infrastructure and technology upgrades will add almost 13 gigawatts of capacity, including 4,800 megawatts of offshore wind, and upgrade more than 1,000 miles of transmission. More than $300 million of the funding will go to community workforce development, scholarships, apprentice programs, and grants to community organizations. Six of the eight programs will partner with labor unions, five of which will be local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
In addition to $2.5 billion for grid resilience utility and industry grants, there are two other funding programs. One is $3 billion total for smart grid grants. A third is a $5 billion program for grid innovation. It isn’t clear how much of the announced funding today came from each of the three parts.
