The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) announced up to $10.3 million in funding through the Grid Enhancement Grant.
Donor Name: Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration
State: Arkansas
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/19/2024
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
DFA is seeking proposals for grid enhancement and resilience projects that will strengthen the resilience of the electric grid and/or reduce the impacts of electric outages in the state.
This program leverages allocated federal funds to enhance and modernize America’s power grid against natural disasters and expand economic development. This funding is provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and will be allocated to projects that deliver direct benefits to Arkansans by increasing grid resilience, protecting against outages during natural disasters, and encouraging investments into the state’s grid workforce.
Objectives
The funds will be used to enhance the resilience of the electric grid and prevent electric outages by addressing three objectives:
- Increase the Reliability of the Arkansas Electric Grid – Reduce the frequency with which the grid experiences sustained interruptions and decrease the number of customers impacted by all-hazard events, especially those customers that experience higher-than-average frequency and duration of outages.
- Achieve Whole Community Impact – Ensure that these Grid funds benefit Arkansans, specifically those who reside in communities that are more susceptible or vulnerable to electric power outages.
- Support the Development of the State’s Grid Workforce – Support the development of the state’s workforce responsible for grid enhancement projects, potentially by means of offering additional professional development and/or workforce development opportunities. Consider additional efforts to help Arkansas train, attract, and retain a skilled workforce.
Eligible Projects and Investments
Through this program, most of the state’s funding will be allocated to projects that strengthen the state’s electric grid through one or more of the following eligible enhancements:
- Adaptive protection technologies
- Advanced modeling technologies
- Fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems
- Hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, or other systems
- Monitoring and control technologies
- Relocation of power lines or reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors
- Replacement of old overhead conductors & underground cables
- Undergrounding of electrical equipment
- Use or construction of distributed energy resources (DERs) for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events, including microgrids and battery-storage subcomponents
- Utility pole management
- Vegetation and fuel-load management
- Weatherization technologies and equipment
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants include all Arkansas electric utilities (e.g., investor-owned electric utilities, electric cooperatives, and municipal electric utilities).
- Electric grid operator- Maintains reliable and secure operation of the electric grid Electricity storage operator Manages and maintains energy storage system
- Electricity generator- Generates electricity for public use Transmission owner or operator- Maintains efficient and reliable transmission of electricity from electricity generators to regional/local distribution operators
- Distribution provider -Operates and manages local and/or regional energy distribution networks
- Fuel supplier- Supplies fuel used to generate electricity in the state
For more information, visit DFA.
