Grid Resilience Grant Program
South Carolina is vulnerable to a multitude of natural hazards, ranging from hurricanes to ice storms. These hazards create significant risks to life, loss or damage to property, and damage to the electric grid. The duration of power disruptions that stem from these hazards can range from hours to weeks.
Santee Cooper is pleased to serve as the state entity within South Carolina to administer the formula grant provided for South Carolina grid resilience under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Section 40101(d). We submitted our formal application on Dec. 8, 2022, after seeking public input about our proposed program and project objectives, metrics and other details.
The BIL grant program is expected to provide funding for five years. The U.S. Department of Energy notified us on May 23, 2023, that it has approved funding for the first two years, in an amount totaling $10.4 million. Santee Cooper has established the South Carolina Grid Resilience Grant Program (GRG) to distribute these funds to projects that improve the resilience of the electric grid and help prevent or mitigate such natural hazard disruptions.
Next Steps
Now that the initial funding has been approved, Santee Cooper can move forward on solicitations, review and approvals for projects that will improve the resilience of the South Carolina power grid.
- We have hired Guidehouse, an independent expert consultant, to help develop a Request for Subgrant Proposals that will be sent to the 20 member electric cooperatives and all municipal electric systems in the state, along with any other eligible entities that indicated an interest in receiving it or registered for the public meeting in November 2022. A timetable for finalizing and distributing the RFP will be posted to this website soon.
- Subgrant project proposals will be evaluated as to consistency with the program and project criteria outlined in the program narrative.
Reference Documents
Helpful Links
- South Carolina Emergency Management Division – Hazard Mitigation Plan
- “Biden Administration Announces $2.3 Billion for States and Tribes to Strengthen and Modernize America’s Power Grid.”
- Section 40101(d) Formula Grants to States & Indian Tribes information (National Energy Technology Laboratory)
- Allocation of Grant Funds to States and Indian Tribes (DOE Grid Deployment Office)
Questions and More Information
Should you have general questions about the application process or require more information, please email us at gridresiliencegrant@santeecooper.com. We will aim to respond within 48 hours. Thank you.