Vol76-7 July 2026

Grant money helps support reliability improvements

In October 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded SMECO a $32.5 million Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) grant to cover up to 67 percent of the costs for various transmission, distribution, and telecommunications infrastructure improvements in Southern Maryland. SMECO will receive monthly reimbursements throughout project execution, which is expected to continue through 2029. The first installment was received in August 2025.

The grant supports a system-wide investment in reliability and resilience in the areas of greatest need on SMECO’s electric system. For distribution projects, this includes identifying locations with a high volume of outages caused by downed poles from vehicle accidents and falling trees. Once identified, these areas will be prioritized for conversion from overhead to underground, enhancing both safety and reliability for members. The new underground installations also allow for “loop” connections, enabling power to be rerouted between two different substations during an outage and restoring service to most affected members while repairs are underway.

SMECO successfully executed the first two distribution GRIP projects in 2025, which converted approximately 5.5 miles of aging overhead copper line along Parkers Wharf Road and Kings Landing Road in Calvert County to underground infrastructure. Converting the lines underground proactively replaced deteriorated copper conductor and helped address tree-related outages.

SMECO continues to advance several GRIP-funded reliability projects, including replacing aging overhead infrastructure, converting portions of the system to underground, and creating new feeder connections between substations to improve reliability and operational flexibility. These upgrades will improve reliability, strengthen system resilience, and enhance outage restoration capabilities. Most GRIP-funded distribution projects are expected to be complete by the end of 2026.

In addition to distribution upgrades, a significant portion of the GRIP grant will also fund the replacement of 69-kilovolt transmission lines between SMECO’s switching station at the Chalk Point Generating Station in Aquasco and the Hughesville substation. The existing lines date back to the 1960s and represent some of the oldest in SMECO’s system. Replacing them proactively reduces the need for emergency repairs and allows the cooperative to focus on other sustainability projects in our service territory.

Securing grants like GRIP helps offset the financial impact of necessary capital improvements on SMECO members while strengthening infrastructure for continued reliability. SMECO remains committed to pursuing federal funding that aligns with its strategic priorities and benefits our members.