Grid Enhancement Grant Subaward Program
Program Description
The Grid Enhancement Grant Subaward program provides funding for utility infrastructure investments in Arkansas. This program leverages allocated federal funds to enhance and modernize America’s power grid against natural disasters and expand economic development. This funding is provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and will be allocated to projects that deliver direct benefits to Arkansans by increasing grid resilience, protecting against outages during natural disasters, and encouraging investments into the state’s grid workforce.
Program Objectives
Funding provided through this subaward program will be used to enhance the resilience of the electric grid and prevent electric outages by addressing three objectives:
1. Increase the Reliability of the Arkansas Electric Grid
2. Achieve Whole Community Impact
3. Support the Development of the State’s Grid Workforce
For additional details regarding these objectives, please refer to the state Program Narrative below.
Eligible Entities
Eligible applicants generally include all Arkansas electric utilities (e.g., investor-owned electric utilities, electric cooperatives, and municipal electric utilities) as well as electric grid operators, electricity storage operators, electricity generators, transmission owners or operators, distribution providers, and fuel suppliers.
Timeline
- The application period opens on April 2, 2024.
- Applicants must submit a completed proposal and SF-424 form to [email protected] by 5PM CT on Friday, July 19, 2024.
DFA encourages all eligible and interested entities to review the application, guidance, and posted FAQ document in a timely manner. Interested parties should direct any questions to [email protected] by April 30, 2024. Due to the competitive nature of this program, DFA will provide answers to questions that are broadly applicable to eligible applicants by posting an updated FAQ document with responses.
