California in line to receive $67.5 million for grid resiliency projects
The U.S. Energy Department has tapped California as one of nine states to receive about a third of its designated $207.6 million in grants to improve grid resilience.
Monday’s news comes as a precursor to an anticipated, punishing heat wave about to embark upon the North Bay, which is forecast to join the majority of the West in triple-digit temperatures by the end of the week.
More than $67 million will be earmarked for projects in this round of funding for the Golden State under U.S. President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The California Energy Commission expects double that amount for its total allocation spearheaded through the massive $2 billion infrastructure bill signed by Biden in 2021.
Since then, the starting framework for grant acceptance has been laid out by the state energy commission, which will host public workshops in September and October to field inquiries. Funding is due to be granted next summer.
Time is of the essence, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, warned, because climate change is not waiting.
“We should be alarmed. It’s bad and getting worse pretty quickly, and we’re losing,” Huffman told the Business Journal, referring to evidence of climate change. While a large swath of western state break records for consecutive days of intense heat, pounding rain floods the East Coast.
“It’s really a shame we didn’t do more faster, but now we have a chance,” the congressman said. Still, he further admits the money amounts to a “drop in the bucket” compared to what’s needed to modernize the grid and whether there’s enough to make a big dent in climate catastrophes such as wildfires that take out towns.
“Northern Californians have learned the hard way,” he said.
“It’s a small part. But it’s just one program and the first time we’ve ever provided a grid resiliency fund. We’re delivering on that when historically it’s been left up to the grid operator,” he said.
Likely eligible recipients may include these:
- Grid operator
- Electricity storage operator
- Electricity generator
- Transmission owner
- Distribution provider
- Fuel supplier
After threats of blackouts last summer, California heads into an El Nino-building hot season predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be warmer than usual. The California Independent System Operator Corporation (ISO), which manages the flow of electricity across high-voltage lines, is one such agency paying close attention to funding to improve energy efficiency.
“It’s early to tell what specific impacts the funding may have on our operations, however, the California ISO supports efforts to enhance grid and infrastructure resiliency,” spokeswoman Anne Gonzales told the Business Journal.
The state program titled Community Energy Resilience Investments will support projects that “reduce the frequency and duration of power outages for communities”; “ensure that the benefits of clean, safe, affordable and reliable energy are shared by all”; “advance California’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy”; and “create high quality jobs with strong labor standards,” commission spokeswoman Lindsay Buckley noted.
Here’s a sampling of preferred project candidates:
- Fire-resistant technologies and equipment
- Vegetation and fuel-load management
- Weatherization technologies and equipment
- Utility pole management
- Undergrounding of electrical equipment
- Relocation of power lines
- Construction of microgrids
Some entities from private enterprise to the public sector are already investing in these self-contained power supplies. In the North Bay, the U.S. Coast Guard station near Valley Ford is building its own $36.1 million campuswide system to operate self-sufficiently. The military agency tasked with rescue missions broke ground in January 2022.
The prior year, Chick-fil-A in Santa Rosa installed a microgrid to operate if the power goes out. Microgrids serve as small-scale generators of power that allow businesses to harness the energy without relying solely on the state power grid. The separation from the larger grid is labeled “islanding.”
Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com
