RALEIGH, NC -- On Aug 6th, Governor Roy Cooper joined United States Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to announce new funding through the Department of Energy to enhance North Carolina’s electrical grid and increase capacity for renewable energy storage. They were joined by N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser and other officials as they announced the second round of funding through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program at the Duke Energy facility in Garner.

“This funding means cheaper, cleaner and more reliable electricity for our homes and businesses,” said Governor Cooper. “Not only will these investments from the Biden-Harris Administration help provide more electricity, it will support our growing industries and create quality jobs for people across our state.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration is investing in the most crucial component of the nation’s infrastructure, expanding and hardening the grid to allow more resilient, clean power to reach more households, and support the ongoing manufacturing boom—all while creating thousands of local jobs," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "North Carolina is becoming a global powerhouse for clean energy—and these upgrades will keep the growth coming. Through partnerships with local HBCUs and community colleges, investments in the state will create transformational, good-paying jobs for the clean energy economy of the future."

“This grant project is a terrific example of federal, state and local partnerships that benefit the people of North Carolina as we work to build resilience to storms and capacity for future clean energy growth,” said North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Elizabeth Biser.

“The grant announced on Aug 6th, by the Department of Energy is a win for the communities Duke Energy serves, and signals North Carolina’s leadership in the energy transition,” said Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy North Carolina state president. “This project will help reduce outages, enhance the power system’s resilience against extreme weather, enable the connection of more clean energy sources to the grid and create job opportunities and new partnerships with community organizations.” 

Established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program is a $10.5 billion investment to enhance the power grid across the country, improving resiliency against extreme weather, and ensuring American communities have access to affordable, reliable, electricity when and where they need it.

On Aug 6th’s announcement marks the second round of funding, amounting to $2.2 billion, for the GRIP Program. The first funding opportunity amounted to $3.46 billion for 58 projects across the country.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and State Energy Office, in partnership with Duke Energy, were selected for a $57 million award towards the reconstruction of the Lee-Milburnie 35-mile, 230kV transmission line extending through Wake, Johnston, and Wayne Counties from Raleigh to Goldsboro. The award will cover 50% of the project costs with Duke Energy covering the remaining 50%. This project will help meet the growing electricity demand in Eastern North Carolina and will help reduce power outages for more than 14,000 customers.

Read more about the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program here.