Liberty Selected to Receive Up to $47.5 Million in Federal Funding
The U.S. Department of Engery award will be used to strengthen and modernize the power grid
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected The Empire District Electric Company d/b/a Liberty to receive up to $47.5 million in federal funding. The funding is part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which seeks to enhance grid flexibility and improve the resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather.
The funds will support part of the cost to implement smart grid technology and enhanced systems across Liberty’s service areas in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This includes automated devices that can restore power more efficiently, resulting in shorter service interruptions and lower operating costs. It also includes technology that will enhance Liberty’s ability to deliver affordable, clean energy to the grid while improving service and reliability.
Projects supported by the funding are expected to bring improvements to over 30 communities, many of them in more rural areas, and will create additional jobs in construction and warehousing and support industries such as transportation, hospitality, and others.
Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, the GRIP program leverages federal and private investments to provide communities across the nation with a reliable grid prepared for extreme weather while also delivering affordable, clean energy and creating robust local opportunities for economic investment and jobs. The funding is subject to final agreement between Liberty and the U.S. Department of Energy. Liberty’s portion of the project funding will be subject to review and approval by state regulatory commissions.
“These projects will bring great value to our customers through improved reliability, faster restoration times when outages do occur, and lower operating costs. With this award, we have the potential to complete these projects with significant savings to our customers. We look forward to working with the Department of Energy and our state regulatory commissions as we complete the next steps in this process.”
- Tim Wilson, President, Central Region-Electric
Frequently Asked Questions
The DOE is currently conducting a due diligence review of Liberty’s accounting systems and policies and procedures required to make the project a success. At the end of this project, the two parties will execute a Cooperative Agreement which will signify the formal start of the project. This work can take 4 months or more.
As conceived, the project would last five years, with the first year being dedicated to detailed design work, spot renewal, and reinforcement of line infrastructure before installing automation devices.
While DA can help with outages on the local distribution network, it does not eliminate them. The intent of DA is to confine the outage to a much smaller area, reducing the impact to our customers. The technology will also provide valuable information about the location of the fault, which will allow us to more quickly identify the cause and expedite restoration.
The project will create additional jobs in construction, warehousing and supporting industries including transportation, hospitality, and others. It will also help reduce power interruptions that negatively affect both businesses and families. Liberty is seeking a variety of community partnerships to explore and deliver various other types of benefits.
As proposed, there will be multiple work sites throughout the company’s service territory. Watch this space for further project updates.
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GRID Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program
Learn more about how distribution automation will benefit our customers in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Project Distribution Automation (DA): In Brief
- Project DA will install smart grid devices capable of automatically restoring power after certain types of outages across multiple locations in the four states served by Liberty.
- The devices – known as autoreclosers – are capable of clearing power-line faults caused by tree, animal, or debris contacts and restore power service without human intervention.
- The project proposal was submitted as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s infrastructure grant program and will contribute up to half of the project’s cost.
- The project will create local jobs and additional training for qualified trades and apprentices, as well as opportunities in other technical, supply chain and hospitality fields.