INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT

How to access funding

Section 40103

Electric grid reliability and resilience research, development, and demonstration

Program Upgrading Our Electric Grid Reliability and Resiliency Federal financial assistance offered to demonstrate innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to harden resilience and reliability and to demonstrate new methods to enhance regional grid resilience.

$5 billion

for the Energy Infrastructure Federal Financial Assistance program and

$1 billion

Rural and remote area assistance program

This section also seeks to improve resilience, safety, and reliability and environmental protection in rural or remote areas and develop a framework to assess the resilience of energy infrastructure.

Collaborative agencies

  • Implemented through states by public and publicly regulated entities on a cost-shared basis
  • Secretary of Energy
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),
  • North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

Wind and solar + storage

Managing the intermittency of renewables isn’t the only challenge in making wind and solar work. Power quality issues and protecting equipment from grid-side disruptions are equally important. Energy storage can provide solutions to smooth renewables output, as has been demonstrated by numerous “solar+storage” installations to date. Solar has also benefitted from collection systems operating at higher voltages, reducing energy losses.

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Distribution automation

More than digital meters, distribution automation extends to all aspects of the local utility’s grid. Equipment condition monitoring, fault isolation and restoration, voltage monitoring and support, and more can all be managed largely without human intervention with today’s automated distribution systems. Often investments in such systems from a reliability standpoint will yield benefits in system efficiency, optimization, and control. Data gathered by these systems can also be used with analytic tools, for example, to identify areas on the grid that might need voltage support.

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Section 40104

Utility demand response

Requires state regulators to consider establishing rate mechanisms to allow utilities to recover the costs of promoting demand-response practices in order to encourage electrical utilities to promote demand-response offerings.

Many if not all utilities will be interested in accessing funds to support demand response (DR). Following the adage that the least expensive megawatt is the one you don’t have to generate, DR has become increasingly relevant, in particular with regard to addressing rapid increases in afternoon demand just as solar resources fall off. DR programs can play an important role in mitigating the so-called “duck curve” which in turn paves the way for more solar energy to be integrated into the grid.

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Section 40107

Digital Switchgear – technology to enhance grid flexibility

30% lower

Operating costs over the life of the equipment Digital switchgear also delivers shorter engineering, commissioning and installation time, and a reduced footprint

This section amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to include smart grid investments that: • Provide flexibility and help quickly rebalance the electrical system • Facilitate the aggregation or integration of distributed energy resources • Provide energy storage to meet fluctuating demand • Provide voltage support • Integrate intermittent generation sources • Increase the network’s operational transfer capacity; and • Anticipate and mitigate impacts of extreme weather events or natural disasters on grid resilience. Many of the technologies described earlier (distribution automation, virtual power plants, energy storage) apply equally to this section. Digital switchgear is another candidate. By using multiple sensors to measure temperature and humidity, and by monitoring utilization and operating cycles of electrical devices, digital switchgear can monitor its own health and trigger notifications when conditions change. That way it can predict potential failures before they occur or alert when maintenance is needed, avoiding costly or unnecessary downtime.

$3 billion

Smart Grid Investment Matching Grant Program, originally introduced as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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