With a Quarter-Billion-Dollars in Federal Monies Now in Hand, Utah Will Lead a $500 Million Electrical Grid Reliability Project Touching 700,000 Customers in Six States and Five Tribal Nations

With notice from the U.S. Department of Energy of its successful proposal, the State of Utah's Office of Energy Development will now lead a $500 million multi-state effort to boost the reliability of the electrical grid serving 0ver 700,000 customers in six western states and five tribal nations.

Specifically, according to a news release distributed by Utah's OED, the Grid Development Office of the DOE has selected the multi-state proposal led by Utah's OED to receive a grant of over $249.5 million in funding.

This Project RELIEF project (aka, "Reliable Electric Lines: Infrastructure Expansion Framework") will receive an additional $252 million in matching funding from project partners, Pacificorp and Garkane Energy Cooperative, bringing total Project RELIEF funding to over $500 billion.

According to Dusty Monks, OED's Acting Director,

“(Project) RELIEF uses cutting-edge grid technologies so that Utah and our neighbors across the West can provide the reliable, affordable, and adequate energy our communities need. It also shows the power of collaborations, bringing together states, industry, and other organizations.”

According to data gathered from Utah's OED, the Grid Development Office, and the DOE, joining the State of Utah, Pacificorp and Garkane in Project RELIEF are

• The State of Arizona;
• The State of Idaho;
• The State of Oregon;
• The State of Wyoming;
• The National Association of State Energy Officials;
• California Independent System Operator;
• Western Power Pool;
• Utah State University; and
• Various vendors.

As noted in the news release, ~55% of Project RELIEF’s efforts will directly benefit underserved communities, by

• "Leveraging existing rights of way across 250 miles of power lines,
• "Boost(ing) transmission capacity (in the process),
• "Integrat(ing) more than 500 MW of renewable energy, and
• "Prevent(ing) over 5,500 hours of potential (and predictable) outages."

According to a DOE writeup about Round 2 Selections of the Grid Innovation Programs (of which Project RELIEF is a part), Project RELIEF will

• "Deploy advanced conductor cables to significantly boost transmission capacity using existing rights-of-way, which will (in turn)
• "Improve grid reliability for 700,000 utility customers across four states and five tribal nations and
• "Enable the integration of more than 500 MW of renewable energy."

The 700,000 utility customers that will benefit from Project RELIEF are based in

• Arizona,
• California,
• Idaho,
• Oregon,
• Utah, and
• Wyoming.

According to White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi,

“As we build out the nation’s power grid to keep pace with historic manufacturing and clean energy growth, we are doing so by harnessing innovative technologies to lower energy costs, create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, and take on the climate crisis. The investments we are making today will enhance the strength and resilience of our grid, especially in the face of more climate-fueled extreme weather events like wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat.”   

{AUTHOR'S NOTE: For readers not familiar with Garkane Energy, it is an energy cooperative that serves over 15,000 "members" across 16,000 square miles of service territory in all or parts of six counties in South-Central Utah and two counties in North-Central Arizona. Additionally, the Garkane serves four national parks, two national monuments, a national recreation area, three national forests, and considerable FLM lands.}

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