The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in funding to help steel the U.S. power grid against extreme weather and to expand transmission projects.
The funding for 32 projects is being made available through the Energy Department and will span 42 states, the administration said in a statement Oct. 18. Investments will include utilities that were wrecked by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Some funds will go toward constructing more than 300 miles of new electric transmission lines and upgrading more than 650 miles of existing transmission lines.
“The devastating and deadly hurricanes, Helene and Milton, have put on stark display how extreme weather events continue to stress the nation’s aging electric systems,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in the statement.