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Department of Energy Awards GRU $47.5 Million Grant
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded GRU a $47.5 million grant to bolster electric grid resilience, increase funding to community-based programs and support workforce development.
The grant is part of the DOE’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which aims to increase access to affordable, reliable energy. President Biden announced the grant award while touring hurricane damage in St. Petersburg this Sunday.
“It’s important to point out that one of the main reasons we received this grant is because GRU is an industry leader in grid reliability,” said GRU CEO Ed Bielarski. “Because we already are innovative and reliable, DOE wants to use us as a model to further innovate and enhance our resilience and storm response, including in disadvantaged communities.”
At the moment those enhancements include:
- Replacing 10 transformers
- Replacing outdated circuit breakers with new technology
- Replacing 129 wooden poles with ductile iron poles
- Enhancing GRU’s digital meters to more easily detect and respond to outages
- Hardening and undergrounding distribution lines serving disadvantaged communities
- Building a new substation in southwest Gainesville
In addition to its technical components, the grant provides additional funding for community programs such as GRU’s Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program (LEEPplus). LEEPplus provides free home upgrades to low-income customers. The grant more than doubles the program’s budget to $575,000 annually over the next five years.
The grant also establishes an electric lineworker apprenticeship with Santa Fe College and funds additional apprenticeships and internships at Santa Fe and UF.
GRU began aggressively pursuing grants following the COVID-19 pandemic when it utilized law firm Holland and Knight’s consulting arm in 2020. The utility was awarded the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership grant on Oct. 7, 2024, during the second round of GRIP funding. In addition to the $47.5 million federal award, GRU has allocated $23.7 million in its electric distribution system budget.
GRU has established a tentative timeline to satisfy the grant, which must be executed in five years. The next step is to negotiate a contract with the Department of Energy.
“I want to thank everybody involved in this utility-wide effort,” Bielarski said. “This is a testament to our excellent staff and commitment to being a utility that puts its customers first.”