Grid Resilience Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved Santee Cooper’s request (on behalf of the State) for fiscal year 2024 funding of the Grid Resilience Grant program. This program was previously funded for 2022-2023 at a combined $10.4 million, with Santee Cooper contributing an additional $1.56 million. Seventeen projects from electric cooperatives, municipal and other utilities around the state were approved by the DOE and are being supported with this funding. The approved 2024 funding is $5.5 million, plus an additional 15% from Santee Cooper. This funding has provided support for 14 additional projects. 

“These 14 projects represent a powerful step forward in strengthening South Carolina’s electric grid, especially in communities that are most vulnerable to outages,” said Jimmy Staton, President and CEO of Santee Cooper. “We’re proud to partner with the Department of Energy and utilities across the state to deliver smarter, more resilient energy solutions for South Carolinians.”

Santee Cooper is pleased to serve as the state entity within South Carolina to administer the formula grant provided for South Carolina grid resilience under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Section 40101(d). The BIL grant program is expected to provide funding for five years. Santee Cooper has established the South Carolina Grid Resilience Grant Program (GRG) to distribute these funds to projects that improve the resilience of the electric grid and help prevent or mitigate such natural hazard disruptions.