The federally funded Maine Grid Resilience Grant Program seeks to increase the resilience of the electric grid and Maine communities while increasing clean energy workforce opportunities and aligning with ongoing electric grid modernization and state climate goals. On July 23, 2024, Governor Mills announced $6.6 million in grant awards to six Maine utilities and technology providers to deploy electrical grid resilience projects in Maine communities.
Maine communities selected for awards include:
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Calais region: Eastern Maine Electric Cooperative will upgrade its distribution system by replacing approximately 10.6 miles of older distribution lines, adding and replacing transformers, and replacing poles and cross arms. Amount: $2,000,000.
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Vinalhaven and North Haven: Fox Islands Electric Cooperative will upgrade and relocate an existing submarine electrical cable that serves the island community of North Haven. Amount: $1,080,626.
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Van Buren: Van Buren Light and Power will replace antiquated poles, distribution lines, and switching equipment while also training apprentice line workers. Amount: $561,750.
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Madison area: The Madison Extreme Weather Resilience project will increase community and electric grid resilience by upgrading critical power lines, expanding vegetation maintenance, and deploying advanced monitoring devices to decrease outages, particularly those resulting from flooding. Amount: $510,633.
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Indian Island: In partnership with the Penobscot Nation, Sunnova will deploy distribution infrastructure and controls to interconnect two community facilities to a solar photovoltaic and battery storage system, creating a community microgrid to reduce the impact of power outages. Amount: $689,737.
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Sebago region: The Central Maine Power Shaw Mill project will install upgraded grid measures and switching devices to enhance reliability in Baldwin, Sebago and Standish – an area that has experienced numerous outages affecting close to 36,000 customers in the past three years. Amount: $1,628,257.
Map of Grid Resilience Awards by Location (July 2024)
Program Goals
- Increase resilience of the electric grid and decrease the frequency and duration of outages, including within disadvantaged communities and areas experiencing a high frequency and/or long durations of outages;
- Improve community and economic resilience and empower electric customers and communities to be resilient to disruptive events;
- Increase clean energy workforce opportunities and ensure alignment with existing state initiatives; and
- Align with ongoing electric grid modernization and state policy climate goals while mitigating disproportionate energy burdens.
Public Meetings
Public meeting materials related to this program are posted below.
- February 28, 2024 Informational Meeting
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Date: February 28, 2024
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Location: Virtual meeting
- February 9, 2023 Public Hearing
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Date: February 9, 2023
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Location: Virtual meeting
- August 9, 2022 Webinar
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Date: August 9, 2022
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Location: Virtual meeting
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is eligible to apply?
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Per federal guidelines, entities eligible to apply for funds include:
- Electricity storage operators;
- Electricity generators;
- Transmission owners or operators;
- Distribution providers;
- Fuel suppliers; and
- Electric grid operators.
- What are applicable uses of program funds?
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Per federal guidelines, applicable uses of program funds include:
- Weatherization technologies and equipment;
- Fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems;
- Monitoring and control technologies;
- The undergrounding of electrical equipment;
- Utility pole management;
- The relocation of power lines or the reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors;
- Vegetation and fuel-load management;
- The use or construction of distributed energy resources for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events (modification, refurbishing or replacement of old components to ensure weatherization/resilience but not to increase output capacity), including:
- Microgrids;
- Battery-storage subcomponents;
- Adaptive protection technologies;
- Advanced modeling technologies;
- Hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, of other systems; and
- The replacement of old overhead conductors and underground cables.
Resilience measures that are NOT allowed include:
- Construction of a new electric generating facility or large-scale battery-storage facility that is not used for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events; or
- Cybersecurity.
In November 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) clarified that grant funds or cost match may not be used to purchase and install an emergency generator, and additionally specified that construction of new solar generation for microgrids is not an allowable cost.
The federal program rules require that a percentage of funds is set aside for small utility applicants, where small utilities are defined as utilities that sell less than 4,000,000 MWh annually.
How does a utility demonstrate annual electricity sales?
DOE provides EIA-923 as one way an applicant can demonstrate annual electricity sales. Other data or demonstration of annual electricity sales may be accepted as well.
- What is the funding source for this program?
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Section 40101(d) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the Grid Resilience Formula Grant Program, which will provide a total of $459 million of federal funds each year for five years to States and Indian Tribes. In 2023, GEO applied for and was awarded the State of Maine’s combined 2022 and 2023 funding allocations, a total of $4,364,534. GEO anticipates that approximately $2.2 million will be allocated to the State of Maine in each of the remaining three program years through 2026. Tribes in Maine are eligible for separate funding allocations.
To receive the state formula allocation, GEO submitted a program plan to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) detailing the objectives, metrics, and criteria that will guide GEO’s funding decisions under the program. GEO held two public meetings related to the planning and administration of Section 40101(d) funding to solicit public input on program objectives and metrics (meeting materials linked above). Input received through public comment was considered in the preparation of the final plan submission to DOE.