The Department of Energy’s FY 2023 Congressional Budget request includes $297.4 million for the Office of Electricity (OE). The requested funding will support OE’s efforts to develop new technologies to strengthen, transform, and improve electricity delivery infrastructure so that consumers have access to resilient, secure, and clean electricity sources. The proposed investment supports OE’s mission of security and resilience through six key priorities: 

• Grid Flexibility through Megawatt-scale Grid Storage: Pursuing megawatt-scale storage capable of supporting voltage and frequency regulation, ramping, and energy management for bulk and distribution power systems.
• Improved Observability and Deep Learning via Sensing Technology Utilization: Driving integration of high-fidelity sensing technology for predictive and correlation modeling for electricity and interdependencies with oil and natural gas systems.
• Expanding Data Development, Visualization, and Analytics for Transmission Systems and Advanced Grid Architectures: Leading research to better understand the issues surrounding the current and future electric power grid, and developing robust model-based solutions that result in new software, analytical toolsets for operators and planners.
• North American Energy Resilience Model (NAERM): Using the integrated NAERM, developed from 2019–2021 in partnership with the national laboratories and relevant stakeholders, to aid in energy planning, transmission planning, and contingency analyses to drive infrastructure investment in the North American energy system.
• Building in Cybersecurity: Accelerating and expanding cybersecurity and secure communications for electricity infrastructure and mitigating vulnerabilities.
• Integrated Grid Planning to Ensure Coherence: Formulating coherent grid investment strategies that apply advanced technologies for meeting reliability, resilience, decarbonization, efficiency, equity, and flexibility objectives through the advancement of integrated planning practices in concert with the electric industry.

The FY 2023 request will also extend the impact of OE’s research, development, and demonstration funding by leveraging creative funding mechanisms—such as prizes, competitions, and programs targeted to small businesses. The goal is to enable the commercialization of climate change and clean energy innovations that will stimulate job creation, expand other public impact outcomes, and yield a more geographically diverse and impactful research portfolio.