Vol75-01 January 2025

Funding will help upgrade local grid

Over the next five years, SMECO will receive $32.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to invest in storm-hardening our system by replacing aging 69-kV transmission lines, undergrounding distribution lines, and expanding our communications network with new fiber. The package of investments awarded for funding represents the most needed upgrades for the cooperative’s grid. Making these investments will provide greater reliability for SMECO members while the funding helps reduce the upward pressure on rates that usually accompanies large-scale capital spending.

The grant funding is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, signed into law in November 2021. The IIJA represents a major effort to improve the nation’s infrastructure by investing billions of dollars into energy, water, telecommunications, and transportation systems, and ensuring the nation’s infrastructure can meet future needs.

The DOE is playing a significant role in implementing the IIJA by overseeing and executing the initiatives for over 70 programs, including the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) initiative. GRIP focuses on strengthening the power grid against disruptions, integrating renewable energy sources, and supporting innovative technologies.

Recognizing the potential benefit this could bring to Southern Maryland, cooperative staff successfully developed a winning submission for funding that will deliver investments and strengthen the local electric grid to each county we serve. SMECO is one of the first 16 energy companies to receive a grid resilience grant and the only utility in Maryland selected for a GRIP grant in 2023. The cooperative’s grant award became official on October 1, 2024.