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The Texas Division of Emergency Administration will obtain $60.6 million from the federal authorities to assist utilities strengthen infrastructure on the state’s electrical energy grid.
The U.S. Division of Vitality introduced Thursday that it’s going to award the funds in order that Texas’ energy grid may higher face up to excessive climate occasions. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation created the grant program.
“These grants will assist modernize the electrical grid to cut back impacts of maximum climate and pure disasters whereas enhancing energy sector reliability,” U.S. Secretary of Vitality Jennifer Granholm stated in a press release.
State emergency officers will develop parameters for tips on how to use the cash. The funds might go towards applications reminiscent of trimming timber round energy traces or enhancing how tools features in excessive warmth or chilly, for instance.
The TDEM didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Grid resilience has been high of thoughts for Texans because the 2021 winter storm compelled energy grid operators to name for electrical energy cuts to hundreds of thousands within the state. Lots of of individuals died because the freezing climate took maintain and residents might not warmth their houses.
Texas legislators later required power generators to raised put together their tools for excessive climate, however latest storms have confirmed the continued vulnerability of the transmission system.
A winter storm in late January and early February knocked out power in varied elements of the state, together with Austin, the place tree limbs weighed down with ice fell onto energy traces. Extreme storms in June took out power lines in East Texas.
The Division of Vitality plans to offer out $2.3 billion over the following 5 years to states, territories and tribes to handle energy grid resilience points.
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