Four Illinois electric cooperatives, as well as two municipal utilities, are set to receive $12 million in funding through the Illinois Finance Authority’s (IFA) Grid Resilience Grants program, which was announced at the end of May.
In its role as the Illinois Climate Bank, the IFA announced transformative investments in six projects across Illinois to reduce the frequency of power outages, speed up restoration times, and lower customers’ bills. The second round of IFA’s Grid Resilience Grants program will distribute more than $12 million to directly benefit more than 38,000 Illinois residents across 18 counties.
Including awardee match funds, a total of $25,593,921 will be invested to upgrade grid infrastructure, rebuild and replace aging power lines, implement technologies to restore power more quickly, and remove overgrown vegetation around high-priority electrical lines.
These grants come from the second round of the IFA’s Grid Resilience Grants program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The IFA was allocated $24,549,822 by the U.S. Department of Energy for the first three years of the program. Awardees from the IFA’s second round of competitive applications include Adams Electric Cooperative, city of Batavia, city of Peru, Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association, JCE Co-op and Tri-County Electric Cooperative.
Local utilities and municipalities play a crucial role in the effective deployment of funds. Awarded projects are tailored to the needs of the communities they serve, increasing the impact of the investment. More information about individual projects can be found on the IFA website.
