PSE awarded $45 million grant to help improve reliability and resiliency in parts of the Skagit River Valley

The grant is part of the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program

Bellevue, Washington (10/18/2024) Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is proud to announce that its Skagit River Valley Transformation for Climate Resiliency project has been selected for a more than $45 million grant award to provide regional resilience under the U.S. Department of Energy’s GRIP Program.

This transformational grant will allow PSE to perform strategic system undergrounding to prevent service interruptions, deploy situational awareness technologies for faster response times, and add microgrid and black-start capabilities to restore service quickly using zero-carbon hydropower from the Baker River Hydroelectric Project. Pending award negotiations, the project is anticipated to be completed over a four year basis ending in late 2029.

“This funding accelerates a critical, multipronged project in an area of our service territory that has historically experienced lower electric service reliability, and is increasingly prone to climate-worsened disasters such as wildfires, floods, and severe storms,” said, Mary Kipp, president and CEO of Puget Sound Energy. “We believe this project can deliver significant reliability and resiliency impacts for PSE’s customers, tribal communities, and disadvantaged communities in the Skagit River Valley.”

The grant worth more than $45 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office allows PSE to invest in innovative technologies and infrastructure that will not only improve electric service reliability and prevent disruptions, but also support economic development through improved resiliency, job creation, and pre-apprenticeship opportunities.

“As extreme weather events continue to stress electric systems across the country, the Biden-Harris Administration is using every tool in the toolbox to make sure America’s power grid can provide reliable, affordable power,” said Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy. “The Puget Sound Energy project will strategically underground and implement microgrids and advanced grid technologies to increase grid resilience in highly vulnerable communities that are increasingly challenged by weather disasters.”

The mission of the Grid Deployment Office (GDO) is to catalyze the development of new and upgraded electric infrastructure across the country by maintaining and investing in critical generation facilities; developing and upgrading high-capacity electric transmission lines nationwide; and deploying transmission and distribution technologies. Learn more at energy.gov/gdo.

As part of the project and grant application development process, PSE worked closely with Skagit County, the Town of Concrete, Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, Apprenticeship & Non-Traditional Employment for Women (ANEW), Washington Department of Natural Resources, Bellingham Technical College, and University of Washington as project participants. Some of this work will be done in collaboration with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). We expect to work closely with these parties and other stakeholders as we move forward.

PSE is committed to leveraging state and federal funding opportunities to accelerate the clean energy transition and improve affordability for customers. In addition to the Skagit River Valley Transformation for Climate Resilience GRIP grant, PSE is a participant in two grant consortiums that have been recently selected for GRIP awards to mitigate all-hazards threats to the grid and spur the development of the North Plains Connector transmission line in Montana and North Dakota. More information about awarded projects can be found on the GDO’s announcement page.

Media Contact:

Melanie Coon, 1-888-831-7250, psenewsroom@pse.com