The U.S. Department of Energy is dedicating $5 billion— half is for formula grants to states and tribes, and the other half is going toward funding utilities—to help keep the lights on for American families by hardening the country’s transmission and distribution systems. This involves investing in smart, efficient technologies to make the electric grid more resilient against today’s threats such as climate change and cyberattacks. President Biden has set ambitious goals to reduce U.S. emissions at least 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve these goals, we need to make our country’s power sector 100 percent clean by 2035.
The Department of Energy will dedicate another $5 billion to encourage the deployment of innovative approaches to transmission, storage, distribution, and new approaches to enhance regional grid resilience. States can implement funding under this provision through states and rural electric cooperative entities.