Strengthening the Electric Grid for a More Sustainable Future

The time for communities to improve the resilience and reliability of the electric grid is now. As an extension of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants are providing U.S. states (including territories) and Indian tribes the opportunity to achieve this goal. The program is designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by climate disruption. ¹ As the shift to renewables continues to accelerate, including the influx of distributed energy resources (DERs) coming onto the grid, leveraging this grant funding in combination with Itron solutions can help states and Indian tribes sustainably, cost-effectively and timely.

Also known as Section 40101D under the IIJA, the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants will disseminate funds over the next five years. The distribution criteria include factors such as population size, the likelihood and impact of disruptive events, and past spending on mitigation measures. These funds will be directed toward a wide range of projects with a focus on initiatives that offer the most significant benefits to the surrounding communities, including access to clean, affordable and reliable energy.

With Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants, how can communities improve resiliency and reliability of the electric grid? And how can Itron solutions accelerate the process? Here are a few examples:

Prepare your utility’s infrastructure for continued transportation electrification.

With increasing financial incentives, zero emission goals and total cost of ownership savings opportunities, the transportation sector is electrifying – quickly. This presents unprecedented opportunities and challenges to the grid and hinges on meticulous planning, visibility and purposeful management to happen successfully. Itron’s EV solutions can help with all three, scaling as needed to support every step of the transportation electrification process and creating paths for communities to actively strengthen resiliency to disruptive events

Achieve unprecedented awareness and control at the grid edge.

DERs are increasingly placed at the grid’s edge, and without insight into low- and medium-voltage distribution networks, utilities can’t manage and optimize these assets. Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio enables greater distribution system visibility and control out to the grid edge. It moves grid analysis, decision-making and control to the grid’s edge, reducing latency of action, greatly improving situational awareness and enabling precise analysis and advanced event detection. The result? An optimized grid, better asset management, integrated DERs, more engaged consumers and additional measure toward resiliency.

Turn behind the meter devices into grid assets.

The integration of DERs introduces complex, diverse connectivity options and usage scenarios to the distribution grid. Addressing the effects of EVs, fluctuating renewables and battery storage requires smart coordination, and incorporating traditional loads into a comprehensive portfolio is crucial. Itron’s distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) brings together the industry’s broadest ecosystem of flexible loads – from load control switches and smart thermostats to batteries and EVs – and integrates grid edge intelligence to deliver a wide range of DER-based grid services including economic dispatch, non-wires alternatives, local grid balancing and decarbonization.

Identify faults and restore service quickly.

Maintaining high reliability throughout the distribution grid is one of the top priorities for today’s electricity providers. Robust and resilient, Itron’s utility-grade intelligent network platform for distribution automation (DA) enhances reliability and efficiency by extending secure grid monitoring and control outside the substation fence. Even in the face of severe weather, cybersecurity threats and DER integration, DA can help utilities achieve reliable communications and endpoint connectivity, creating a smarter, flexible and more secure grid.

With funding from the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants (section 40101D) leveraged in combination with Itron solutions, states and Indian tribes can modernize the electric grid without time-intensive and costly infrastructure investments, create operational efficiencies, increase community safety and much more. For more information, reach out to Dave Stensland, business development director, IIJA, and sign up for future information and announcements related to IIJA at www.itron.com/iija. Check out other related blogs in our IIJA series here.