Biden Administration Announces Initiative With 21 States to Modernize Power Grid

The Biden administration has launched a new initiative to address the challenges and opportunities faced by the power grid in the 21st century. The initiative, Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative, is a collaboration with 21 states, federal agencies, and stakeholders to facilitate quick and cost-effective adaptation of the power grid.

Participating states will strive to adopt modern grid solutions to expand grid capacity as well as build modern capabilities on new and existing transmission and distribution lines. Historically, U.S. power grid expansion relied on building new transmission lines with mid-twentieth-century technologies. Modern grid technologies, such as high-performance conductors capable of carrying double or more the power of conventional wires and Grid Enhancing Technologies (including sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools), offer significant opportunities to expand power system capacity. These advancements increase capacity and throughput based on real-time conditions, enabling quicker and more cost-effective integration of renewable and clean energy sources.

The states involved are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. The initiative will target three areas of the current transmission projects: financial, technical and legal.

In recent years, the Biden Harris administration has taken ambitious efforts to improve electricity access and meet climate targets in the next five years. In April, the administration announced upgrades to 100,000 miles of existing transmission lines. In the last three years, with an investment of $22 billion, the Biden administration established 10 new transmission projects which are expected to increase grid capacity by 20 gigawatts.

In April, the U.S. Energy Department announced measures to reduce electric transmission review timelines by half and simplify the environmental review for key grid resilience and clean energy projects. Among other initiatives, the department’s $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program funds projects that enhance grid reliability and resilience using advanced technologies and innovative partnerships and approaches. The Agriculture Department has also set aside $9.7 billion for rural electrification schemes.