Page 39 - Inflation-Reduction-Act-Guidebook

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Investing in America’s Electricity Grid

An affordable, reliable, and clean electricity grid requires a historic investment in new and
upgraded transmission lines. An estimated 70 percent of the grid’s transmission lines and power
transformers are more than 25 years old, making American communities, critical infrastructure,
and the economy endure wasteful inefficiencies and experience disruptions in the face of
extreme weather. The Inflation Reduction Act invests nearly $3 billion in the U.S. transmission
system to help overcome the financial and permitting challenges that hinder the buildout of new
high-capacity lines. These investments will not only address critical vulnerabilities but also
connect Americans to cleaner and cheaper power, advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s
ambitious goal of 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035.

The funding in the Inflation Reduction Act builds on historic grid investments in the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, including the Transmission Facilitation Program and the Grid Resilience
Innovation Partnership, to help build transformative projects that modernize and increase the
reliability of the power grid and provide American communities and businesses with better
access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity. In January 2022, the Administration launched the
Building a Better Grid Initiative to mobilize these and other resources and to support nationwide
development of new and upgraded transmission lines. Additionally, the Department of Energy
created the Grid and Transmission Programs Conductor to provide updated information on the
application process for funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act,
and other federal financing programs.

Funding Overview

The Inflation Reduction Act redoubles the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to
modernize America’s electricity grid and accelerate buildout of long-distance transmission lines.
Highlights include:

• $2 billion for transmission facility financing. This funding will allow the Department
of Energy to carry out a direct loan program for the construction or modification of
electric transmission facilities designated by the Secretary to be in the national interest.

• $760 million in grants to facilitate the siting of interstate transmission lines. With this
funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Department of Energy will be able to
provide grants to siting authorities to study the impacts of potential transmission lines,
identify alternative siting corridors, and take other actions that reduce the time to site and
permit a transmission project. The Department of Energy also can provide grants to a
siting authority and other state, local, or Tribal governmental entities for economic
development activities in communities that may be affected by the construction and
operation of a transmission project.

See the table on the next page for a full list of the programs summarized in this chapter.

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