$249M in federal grid money for Georgia will boost electric transmission and battery storage

ATLANTA (AP) — A $249 million federal grant to Georgia aims to prevent power outages and store electricity on the grid.

The money was granted to a state agency, which will pass it to entities owned by electric cooperatives. The grant was announced Wednesday in Locust Grove, south of Atlanta, by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The money comes from the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program, a $10.5 billion slice of the $1.2 trillion that Congress approved in 2021 as part of an infrastructure law. Officials on Wednesday announced $3.46 billion for 58 projects across 44 states.

Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp., Georgia System Operations and Green Power EMC have committed to spend a total of $507 million on the projects, including the $250 million in federal money. All those entities are jointly owned by 38 electric cooperatives across Georgia.

More than $300 million of the $507 million will be spent by Georgia Transmission, which transmits electricity to the cooperatives. Spokesperson Terry Buttrill said much of the money will go to build an additional 80 miles (139 kilometers) of transmission lines, reaching seven substations now served by only one line, mostly in southwest Georgia. With two transmission lines, customers won’t lose power if one line fails.

Georgia Transmission will also install batteries that can store electricity at six substations, an alternative way of ensuring electricity continues to flow if a transmission line fails.

Oglethorpe Power, which generates power for the cooperatives, will spend $160 million of the $507 million to build three separate 25-megawatt battery storage facilities.

If member cooperatives approve, Oglethorpe spokesperson Heather Teilhet said the facilities would be built at substations in the Atlanta suburbs of Douglasville, Covington and Duluth. When solar generation is at its peak, some of the power would flow to the batteries, only to be released later, spreading out the use of solar electricity.

“We expect this energy storage project to enhance grid resiliency and enable the deployment of increased intermittent emission-free energy on Georgia’s electric grid,” said Oglethorpe Power President & CEO Mike Smith.

The grant also includes advanced grid control systems meant to prevent outages and is expected to lower energy bills through efficiency measures.