Reps. Panetta and Garbarino Lead Bipartisan Letter to Secretary Granholm Requesting IIJA Funding be Put Towards Microgrid Deployment

SALINAS, CA – Today, Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) sent a letter to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm, urging her to consider and allocate funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for microgrid expansion and local power resilience. The IIJA authorizes $5 billion for grants to protect the electric grid from extreme weather, wildfires, and natural disasters. Microgrids are an increasingly important energy strategy for bolstering power reliability, managing cost, and reducing emissions, and should be a key part of our national infrastructure resilience strategy.

"At times over the last few years, we've felt powerless as our communities have been subjected to power outages and power shutoffs due to extreme weather events, an overloaded power grid, and intensifying wildfires," said Rep. Panetta. "Microgrids are a solution to keeping the power on in our homes and communities by operating independent of the grid and using clean energy. Congress made resiliency a priority when we passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Department of Energy should give microgrid projects their full consideration as they allocate infrastructure funding."

"Microgrids are critical to boost power reliability, manage energy costs, and mitigate both cyber and physical risks to our power grid," said Rep. Garbarino. "It is essential that the Administration include microgrids in our national infrastructure resilience strategy for the benefit of communities, businesses, and customers in New York and across the country."

"The Microgrid Resources Coalition applauds Congress' recognition of the unique value of microgrids and their key role in the grid of the future. In addition to providing critical resilience that enables businesses and communities to respond to a wide variety of future challenges, microgrids also enable significant demand-side flexibility during normal grid operations. As we seek to accelerate vehicle electrification and renewable energy production, the grid must evolve to rapidly changing dynamics. Microgrids provide the essential flexibility and support needed to facilitate further renewable integration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve overall system reliability, and reduce costs for the entire grid," said Pierson Stoecklein, Chairman, Microgrid Resources Coalition.

"As we reinvest in the infrastructure that drives our society and economy, it is clear that the challenges ahead require these systems to be resilient to climate impacts and ready to integrate flexible clean energy resources. We think it's important that these lawmakers reiterate their intentions to the Department of Energy as it implements the IIJA," said Cameron Brooks, Executive Director, Think Microgrid.

"AEE strongly supports using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding for a variety of proven grid resiliency solutions, such as microgrids. Microgrids support communities during natural disasters and other extreme conditions that strain our power grid by keeping the lights on and essential services such as hospitals, schools, grocery stores, and community centers open. We are glad to see Congressman Panetta and others recognize the role that BIL funding can play in opening additional markets for these game-changing technologies," said Thomas Lewis, Principal, Advanced Energy Economy.

The letter can be viewed here.

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