The CERRI Program is a competitive grant program that is designed to prioritize projects that will generate the greatest community benefit by reducing the likelihood and consequences of electrical system outages.
Donor Name: California Energy Commission (CEC)
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/29/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Community Energy Reliability & Resilience Investment (CERRI) Program invests in grid hardening and grid resilience projects across California that increase community energy reliability and resilience, support California’s climate and energy policies, improve energy justice and equity, and create good-paying jobs.
The program objectives are oriented around four main themes:
- Energy Reliability and Resilience: Reduce the frequency, duration, and magnitude of power outages and strengthen communities’ ability to function during power outages by providing day-to-day and emergency services for its constituents.
- Community Benefits: Ensure that the benefits of clean, safe, affordable, and reliable energy are shared by all, particularly priority communities (low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal) and communities with critical energy reliability and resilience needs.
- Advancement of Energy and Climate Goals: Support California’s energy and climate goals.
- Workforce Development and Labor: Create high-quality jobs with strong labor standards and protections that attract and train a skilled workforce for lasting careers in the clean energy industry.
Funding Information
- Total Funding Available: $51,867,013
- Project Group 1: Large Entities
- Available Funding: $41,493,611
- Minimum Award per Project: $13,831,203
- Maximum Award per Project: $20,746,805
- Project Group 2: Small Entities
- Available Funding: $10,373,402
- Minimum Award per Project: $5,186,701
- Maximum Award per Project: $10,373,402.
Eligible Activities
Proposed activities must strictly adhere to the below eligible activities list and aim to improve the reliability and resilience of the electric grid against disruptive events.
- Weatherization technologies and equipment for grid hardening purposes
- Fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems
- Monitoring and control technologies
- Undergrounding electrical equipment
- Utility pole management
- Relocation of power lines or reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors
- Vegetation and fuel-load management
- Use or construction of distributed energy resources for enhancing “system adaptive capacity” during electrical system outages, including:
- Microgrid subcomponents (excluding new generation)
- Battery storage
- Adaptive protection technologies
- Advanced modeling technologies
- Hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, and other systems
- Replacement of old overhead conductors and underground cables
- Activities coupled with eligible activities a-l above:
- Funding may be used for the training, recruitment, retention, and reskilling of skilled and properly credentialled workers to perform the work required for the activities proposed by applicants
- Funding for workforce development activities must be coupled with one of the eligible activities listed above; funds awarded through this GFO cannot exclusively be directed towards general workforce development
- Funding may also be used for engagement activities
- Engagement activities must be directly related to the proposed project and to electric grid reliability/resilience (e.g., community input workshops and/or electric outage preparedness workshops).
- Funding may be used for the training, recruitment, retention, and reskilling of skilled and properly credentialled workers to perform the work required for the activities proposed by applicants
Eligibility Criteria
- The following types of entities are eligible to apply for this funding:
- Electric grid operators
- Electricity storage operators
- Electricity generators
- Transmission owners or operators
- Distribution providers
- Fuel suppliers
- Any other relevant entity, as determined by the U.S. Secretary of Energy and California Energy Commission (CEC) prior to the application deadline of this GFO
- Projects must be located in California and serve existing electric customers. Projects do not need to be in investor-owned utility territory
- Each eligible applicant will fall in one of two groups and must identify to which group it is applying on the Application Form
- Group 1: Large Entities that sell more than 4,000 gigawatt-hours per year (GWh/year)
- Group 2: Small Entities that sell 4,000GWh/year or less.
For more information, visit CEC.
