California in line to receive $67.5 million for grid resiliency projects

July 11, 2023

The U.S. Energy Department has tapped California as one of nine states to receive about a third of its designated $207.6 million in grants to improve grid resilience.

Monday’s news comes as a precursor to an anticipated, punishing heat wave about to embark upon the North Bay, which is forecast to join the majority of the West in triple-digit temperatures by the end of the week.

More than $67 million will be earmarked for projects in this round of funding for the Golden State under U.S. President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The California Energy Commission expects double that amount for its total allocation spearheaded through the massive $2 billion infrastructure bill signed by Biden in 2021.

Since then, the starting framework for grant acceptance has been laid out by the state energy commission, which will host public workshops in September and October to field inquiries. Funding is due to be granted next summer.

Time is of the essence, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, warned, because climate change is not waiting.

“We should be alarmed. It’s bad and getting worse pretty quickly, and we’re losing,” Huffman told the Business Journal, referring to evidence of climate change. While a large swath of western state break records for consecutive days of intense heat, pounding rain floods the East Coast.

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By:  Susan Wood
Source: The North Bay Business Journal