Jessica King, jessica.king@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the Biden Administration took a positive step toward ensuring reliability and accelerating the clean energy transition by announcing the availability of $13 billion in grants to support new and upgraded transmission lines, in the largest direct federal investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure to date.
First announced in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these Department of Energy grants are being unlocked as communities across the country are preparing for the threat of elevated energy reliability risks during extreme weather events this winter, driven in part by expensive, unreliable fossil fuels.
“Right now, as households around the country face the risk of rising energy bills due to skyrocketing fossil fuel costs, massive amounts of cost-saving clean energy is waiting to connect to the grid,” said Holly Bender, Sierra Club Senior Director of Energy Campaigns. “The Biden Administration’s investment in a modern grid can unlock clean energy and reduce energy costs while creating jobs in the clean energy economy. We call on the Department of Energy to ensure robust consultation with local communities as projects are being considered, full adherence to all bedrock environmental laws, and to ensure funding supports the Administration’s Justice 40 commitments.”
“We are pleased the Biden Administration is moving quickly to unleash funds to improve transmission and distribution systems, and particularly excited to see the Grid Resilience Innovation Partnerships Program enabling grants to improve energy resiliency through microgrids, local renewable energy, and energy storage,” said Casey Roberts, senior attorney with the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program. “By supporting projects to make communities more resilient during increasingly common climate-driven extreme weather events, these grants can bring energy costs down for families while creating a more reliable grid based on renewable energy sources.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.