BIL – PREVENTING OUTAGES AND ENHANCING THE RESILIENCE OF THE ELECTRIC GRID FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES

The Department of Energy, through the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Grid Deployment Office, is offering formula grants to States and Indian Tribes under solicitation DE-FOA-0002736 to enhance electric grid resilience against disruptive events such as natural disasters, wildfires, and extreme weather. The program focuses on implementing resilience measures, including the use of microgrids and battery-storage subcomponents. Funding is expected to be approximately 459 million dollars annually over a five-year period from fiscal year 2022 to 2026, with an initial performance period of five years that may be extended up to ten years. Eligible applicants must provide a program narrative detailing their subaward criteria and methods, as well as a resilience project package and quarterly monitoring reports. Award priority is given to projects providing the greatest community benefit in rural or urban areas, with specific requirements to ensure a fair percentage of funds reach small utility distributions selling no more than 4 million megawatt hours annually. Compliance requirements include adherence to the Davis-Bacon Act for prevailing wages on construction work exceeding 2,000 dollars, Buy America mandates for iron, steel, and manufactured products, and alignment with NERC CIP and NIST cybersecurity frameworks. Administrative costs are capped at 5 percent of the total federal grant allocation. Applications must be submitted via FedConnect by February 18, 2027, and must include a Unique Entity Identifier from the SAM.