Authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered through the Grid Deployment Office, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program is designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis.
The program will distribute funding to States, Territories, and federally recognized Indian Tribes, including Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Alaska Native Village Corporations, over five years based on a formula that includes factors such as population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts. Priority will be given to projects that generate the greatest community benefit providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy.
On March 20, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued an amendment to the Administrative and Legal Requirements Document (ALRD) to address feedback received from stakeholders. The amendment extends the deadline for States, Indian Tribes, and Territories to apply for funding to May 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The ALRD also amends application requirements to include a mail-in option to ensure that applicants without internet access can apply for the grants. Mail-in applications must be postmarked by May 31, 2023.
Applications may be submitted any time prior to the May 31, 2023 deadline, and will be processed on a rolling basis as they are received.
Application Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
This section is an abridged version of information which can be found at NETL: Formula Grants to States and Indian Tribes for Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid.
What exactly is a formula grant?
A formula grant is a non-competitive funding opportunity to a specific group of applicants, in this case to States and Indian Tribes. A formula is used to allocate funds to the eligible applicants.
How much money am I eligible for?
For this program, the formula was based on five factors: population, area, probability of disruptive events, severity of disruptive events, and expenditure on mitigation efforts. The formula allocations and formula data sources are publicly available.
What do I need to do prior to preparing an application?
Prior to preparing your application you will need to issue a public notice and conduct a public hearing to receive input on the criteria, strategies, and methods you plan to use when determining and implementing your grid resilience projects.
How do I apply?
The application process is outlined in the Administrative & Legal Requirements Document (ALRD) on DOE’s FedConnect. Additional information and tutorials for completing and submitting the application are available above.
How long does it take to fill out the application?
The application process has been streamlined to minimize the number of forms and amount of information that needs to be provided with the application. The Program Narrative submitted with your application, which describes the strategy for selecting and implementing resilience projects (estimated to be 5-15 pages), will require the most time to prepare. The Program Narrative also must include a summary of the public notice and hearing that was held to allow public input into these strategies.
How much money will I need to spend?
States and Indian Tribes will need provide a 15 percent match on the Federal allocation. However, the 15 percent could be met in part by things like the salary paid to the staff that work on the project. Additionally, should the State or Indian Tribe issue subawards for resilience projects, the entity receiving those funds must provide a 100 percent match (or 1/3 match for “small utilities”), as explained in the ALRD. Organizations chosen during the State or Tribe’s selection process will need to contribute up to a 100 percent match, depending on the type of organization.
What happens after an award is made?
Depending on how an eligible applicant determines distribution of funds (which is addressed in the application process), sub-awards to eligible entities could be established that addresses specific resilience criteria outlined in the application.
When are the applications due?
Applications will be accepted until May 31, 2023, 11:59 PM ET and will be processed on a rolling basis as they are received. Mail-in applications must be postmarked by May 31, 2023.
Who do I contact if I have questions?
Once you have registered in FedConnect, you may submit questions to the administration team for this.
Visit the Grid and Transmission Program Conductor to see which financing program is right for you.