Federal Resilience and Reliability Grants 40101(d)

Grid Resilience Utility Grant Program: Strengthening the Reliability and Resiliency of Minnesota’s Electrical Grid

The Strengthening the Reliability and Resiliency of Minnesota’s Electrical Grid grant program closed August 30, 2024. Commerce is currently in review of the applications and will announce awards in early 2025. This competitive grant program seeks proposals for projects which will increase the resilience of Minnesota’s electric grid against disruptive events, advance grid modernization and the deployment of clean energy resources and reduce the impacts of climate-driven extreme weather and natural disasters. This program also aims to generate the greatest community benefit and expand or create clean energy workforce opportunities for Minnesotans.

Questions & Answers have been posted (as of  August 16, 2024). Click here to see 40101(d) Questions & Answers.

Commerce hosted a webinar and discussion on August 8, 2024 about the Strengthening the Reliability and Resiliency of Minnesota’s Electrical Grid program. Click here to see the slide presentation from this webinar.

All questions about this program should be submitted to grid.resilience.COMM@state.mn.us via email. Place in the subject line: Grid Reliability Utility Grants.

The Minnesota grid resilience grant program is funded through Section 40101(d) of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and is administered through the Commerce Department's Division of Energy Resources.

State Electric Grid Resilience Grants Program

Minnesota State Grid Resilience Utility Grant Program: State Legislation Chapter 60, H.F. No. 2310, Article 12, Section 72

The Minnesota State Electric Grid Resilience Grants Program was closed on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.  Commerce is currently in review of the applications and will announce awards in early 2025. The Request for Proposals (RFP) can be reviewed on the Department’s RFP website at Request for Proposals (RFP) / Minnesota Department of Commerce - Business (mn.gov).

All questions about this program should be submitted to grid.resilience.COMM@state.mn.us via email. Place in the subject line: Minnesota State Grid Resilience Utility Grants.

The Q&A has been posted dated 11/13/2024. Click here for a PDF of the Q&A. 

The Minnesota Department of Commerce hosted a webinar on August 16, 2024, to help move Minnesota municipal and cooperative utilities toward a stronger and more resilient electrical grid and to shape the future of the grid resilience grant program. You can find the presentation here. A second webinar was recorded only and published November 8, 2024. The recorded webinar can be found here.

Projects awarded grants under this program: 

• Must increase the resilience of the electrical grid (e.g., prepare for, adapt to, or minimize the consequences of extreme weather or malicious physical or cyber-attacks)
• May develop or improve carbon-free distributed energy resources in Minnesota. Definition found in 216B.2427 Subd. 1. 
• May improve an applicant’s ability to add load growth that is a result of strategic electrification and transportation electrification. Definition found in 216B.2427 Subd. 1.

The Minnesota State Legislature allocated a total of $5.3 million for the Commerce Department to award grant funding that may not exceed $250,000 per entity.

Additional information about this program can be found in Minnesota Laws Chapter 60, Article 12, Section 72.