ODOE to Hold Public Hearing August 31 on Application for Federal Funding to Enhance Grid Resilience
ODOE will hold a public hearing Wednesday, August 31 to receive public input on its proposed grant application to the U.S. Department of Energy for the Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid program created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Information about the federal grant opportunity can be found at: Section 40101(d) Formula Grants to States & Indian Tribes | netl.doe.gov. The federal grant opportunity is currently open for states, tribes, and territories to apply directly to the U.S. Department of Energy. ODOE intends to issue grants to improve the resilience of the electric grid based on the criteria included in the state application.
Section 40101(d)(2)(B)(ii) of the IIJA requires that ODOE give notice and undertake a public hearing to review: (1) the criteria and methods the department anticipates using to make awards to eligible entities, and (2) the proposed funding distributions and recipients of the grant awards.
A draft Program Narrative is now available for public review and comment in preparation for ODOE’s August 31 public hearing on our application.
ODOE will share the approach envisioned for setting objectives and metrics and the proposed funding distributions and recipients of the grant awards, including approaches for engaging stakeholders to establish formal objectives and metrics and to implement strategic planning processes.
Public Hearing Details:
Wednesday, August 31, 2022 – 2 p.m.
This public hearing will be conducted virtually via Webex. For meeting details, including how to join the hearing and additional background information, please visit ODOE’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act page.
Hearing Materials:
A draft Program Narrative is now available for review. Additional materials may be available on the Oregon Department of Energy’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act webpage prior to the hearing.
Commenting on the Proposal:
ODOE developed a set of prompting questions, which calls out areas in which we have a keen interest in receiving feedback from the public. ODOE will accept oral comments on the proposal for the department’s application and will answer questions at the public hearing on August 31, 2022.
Written comments on the proposal are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, September 2, 2022, and may be submitted online through ODOE’s comment portal.
The department will consider public comments received as it finalizes the application for submission to the U.S. Department of Energy. ODOE plans to request approval for application to the Legislative Emergency Board in September, prior to submittal of the application.
For more information, contact:
Jen Senner, Federal Grant Officer, Jennifer.senner@energy.oregon.gov
To request an interpreter for the hearing impaired or accommodations for persons with disabilities, please contact the department at least 72 hours before the meeting at 1-800-221-8035 or fax 503-373-7806. TTY users should call the Oregon Relay Service at 711.
Update:
On September 1, ODOE received information that may significantly affect our application to the U.S. DOE. The application due date has been extended from September 30, 2022 to March 31, 2023, which provides ODOE and other applicants an additional six months to develop the program narrative.
While you are encouraged to still provide comments based on our presentation on August 31, please know that we are reevaluating our options in light of this new information from the U.S. DOE and will provide an update as soon as we know more.