California secures $600M federal grant to improve power grid

The U.S. Department of Energy granted $600 million to a public-private partnership to improve California’s electric power grid that officials hope will lead to energy savings and better reliability for consumers, the governor’s office announced Tuesday.

The federal grant will fund upgrades to 100 miles of electricity transmission lines with technologies that improve reliability and more swiftly deliver “clean, affordable electricity,” according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. 

A consortium comprised of the California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, California Independent System Operator, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Southern California Edison will administer the grant, known as the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership, or GRIP.

“The agencies, grid operator and utilities will partner on the California Harnessing Advanced Reliable Grid Enhancing Technologies for Transmission (CHARGE 2T) program, which will expand transmission capacity and provide interconnection improvements to increase and accelerate equitable access to clean energy resources across the state,” according to the governor’s office.

“Once again, the Biden-Harris Administration is not just talking the talk, they’re walking the walk,” Newsom said in a statement. “This funding is critical to our efforts to build a power grid that ensures all Californians have access to cleaner, cheaper, more reliable electricity.”

Officials highlighted these aspects of the project:

— It will support over 300 direct jobs;

— equip over 100 miles of transmission lines with updated conductor technologies that officials said “will help connect more clean energy resources than the existing grid can accommodate at this time”;

— deliver savings of a projected $200 million in energy costs because of enhanced grid efficiency;

— “create economic and community benefits for disadvantaged communities,” according to Newsom’s office;

— invest in energy and utility workforce training programs; and

— “develop a portal to improve transparency and efficiency in the interconnection process,” officials said.

“As California grapples with increasingly extreme weather as a result of the climate crisis, bolstering our transmission network is essential for protecting public safety and ensuring a successful clean energy transition,” U.S. Senator Alex Padilla said in a statement. “To meet the challenges we face, we must modernize our grid, and there is no better way to achieve that than through reconductoring. Thanks to this historic investment in our state’s CHARGE 2T program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re updating our transmission lines to efficiently, reliably, and affordably deliver clean electricity while creating new green jobs.”

Clean energy leadership

The governor’s office touted the state’s status as the world’s fifth largest economy that is being powered by more clean energy than ever in the past, setting new records and accelerating progress toward 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.

At 10,379 megawatts, the state’s battery capacity has jumped 1,250% from 770 MW in 2019 when Newsom took office.

California’s electricity grid broke “a series of clean energy records this year,” officials said. “For at least 100 days this year, clean energy has exceeded grid demand consumed at some point during the day.”

Newsom’s office credited the new clean energy resources and surge in battery storage with enabling the state’s grid to withstand July’s two-week heat wave “and even exported power to other states.”

Tribal collaborations

A Northern California electrical grid project, led by the Blue Lake Rancheria, Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Yurok tribes, also received $88 million in GRIP funds, Newsom’s office announced. Matching funds from other sources will total about $200 million to develop a “network of community microgrids to ultimately create a highly reliable, resilient, and decarbonized system.”

The tribal communities currently rely on the Hoopa 1101 circuit, which according to state officials is among the least reliable circuits in the PG&E service area. Hoopa 1101 customers experience average outages that last twice as long as outages that occur with most other circuits.

“The project’s innovative approach — developed in collaboration with a new grid services laboratory at Cal Poly Humboldt — addresses the difficulties posed by rugged, rural, and wildfire-prone environments, and will allow communities to move away from relying on fossil fuels,” according to Newsom’s office. 

More information on energy projects in in California is at build.ca.gov.

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