A $249 million federal grant to Georgia aims to prevent power outages and store electricity on the grid.
The money was granted to a state agency, which will pass it to entities owned by electric cooperatives. The grant was announced Wednesday in Locust Grove, south of Atlanta, by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
The money comes from the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, a $10.5 billion slice of the $1.2 trillion that Congress approved in 2021 as part of an infrastructure law. Officials on Wednesday announced $3.46 billion for 58 projects across 44 states.
Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp., Georgia System Operations and Green Power EMC have committed to spend a total of $507 million on the projects, including the $250 million in federal money. All those entities are jointly owned by 38 electric cooperatives across Georgia.
More than $300 million of the $507 million will be spent by Georgia Transmission, which transmits electricity to the cooperatives. Spokesperson Terry Buttrill said much of the money will go to build an additional 80 miles (139 kilometers) of transmission lines, reaching seven substations now served by only one line, mostly in southwest Georgia. With two transmission lines, customers won’t lose power if one line fails.
