Nebraska DWEE Awards $15 Million in Grid Resiliency Program Grants

The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (DWEE) has announced over $15 million in grants to local communities to support critical infrastructure upgrades that will strengthen the reliability and resilience of Nebraska’s electric grid.

The grants are awarded through DWEE’s Grid Resiliency Grant Program, which received federal funds through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Electric Grid/Hazard Hardening Program. The program is supported by the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office as part of a nationwide effort to modernize and secure the country’s energy infrastructure.

DWEE’s Grid Resiliency Grant Program is designed to help utilities improve the reliability of Nebraska’s electrical grid, enhance the grid’s resilience during extreme weather and other hazards, and to improve systems’ ability to recover after disruptive events and attacks.

The awarded projects include replacing old power poles and transformers, improving substations, installing stronger and more efficient transmission lines, and using new technology to better monitor and manage the flow of electricity. Some projects will also move power lines underground to reduce the risk of outages.

Each community receiving funding is also contributing same amount to cover the remaining project costs, showing support to build safer, more resilient energy systems for the future.