Formula Grant Application Amendment Supports Tribal Entities to Leverage All Available Funding.
June 22, 2023
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Formula Grant Application Amendment Supports Tribal Entities to Leverage All Available Funding
The Grid Deployment Office (GDO) today released an amendment to the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants program that will better enable Indian Tribes to take advantage of the available funding. In response to feedback from Tribes, this amendment allows a group of Tribes to collaborate and form a consortium to apply for grid resilience grants. As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the $2.3 billion Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants are 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 Grid Deployment Office is committed to supporting Tribal Nations in accessing all available resources,” said Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is making a historic investment in expanding and modernizing our grid, and we want to make sure that all eligible participants can leverage all the funding available to them.”
With this amendment, a group of Indian Tribes, including Alaska Native Corporations, is eligible to submit a single application as a Tribal Consortium. Applying as a Tribal Consortium will allow resource-constrained Tribes to pool efforts to meet grant requirements, such as managing funds and selecting grid resilience projects. The Tribal Consortium must designate a single lead Tribe to act on behalf of the Tribal Consortium and ensure all grant requirements are met. A Tribe (or Tribal Consortium) may also authorize a third-party to administer the grant and manage grant funds on their behalf. In addition, GDO has streamlined grant reporting requirements for applicants who receive less than $500,000 in grant funding. This will support many Tribes by reducing the administrative challenges associated with accepting grid resilience grants.
The Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants, part of the Building a Better Grid Initiative, are non-competitive grants available to Indian Tribes, States, and Territories, based on a formula that incorporates five factors: population size, land area, probability of and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s historical expenditures on mitigation efforts.
The application deadline for Fiscal Year (FY) 22 and FY23 grants has been extended for Indian Tribes, including Alaska Native Corporations, until August 31, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET (with a mail-in option post-marked by this date). GDO will assist Tribes in modifying a submitted application if they wish to join a Tribal consortium. An informational webinar will be held on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 2:00 PM ET, specifically tailored for Tribal entities to hear updates about the Grid Resilience Formula Grant program and the application deadline extension.
The application deadline for States and Territories for FY22 and FY23 funding for Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants was May 31, 2023.
Learn more about the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant program and the Grid Deployment Office.