Michigan utility gets $23 million to strengthen power grid against bad weather

Two of Michigan’s power grids are getting long-awaited upgrades designed to protect customers from storm-related outages and test new power controls that will improve reliability and resilience.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently provided a $23 million matching grant to DTE Energy to research and deploy two pilot projects – one in O’Shea Solar Park on the west side of Detroit and the other in Port Austin. The projects are “designed to protect customers from storm-related and other outage events, while developing and testing innovative grid controls that use local solar and battery storage.”

The federal fund comes from a new program created by the Biden administration’s infrastructure program that was established to enhance flexibility of the energy grid, improve the resilience of the power system against growing threats of extreme weather and climate change, and ensure communities have access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity at all times.

In a statement applauding the grant, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow emphasized the job creation aspect of the project saying, “Michigan residents know firsthand how more frequent extreme weather is taking a toll on our state’s electrical grid. These critical investments will help ensure Michigan households can count on reliable, affordable power no matter the forecast. These projects will not only help address the impact of the climate crisis in our homes, but will create more good-paying jobs.”

According to DOE, advantages of these projects include reducing outages for customers within the microgrid areas during extreme weather by 50%–80%, decreasing the total duration of outages by 15%–30%, increasing the use of renewable sources, and reducing the total run time for diesel equipment by 5% which will significantly cut emissions.

A study by the Wall Street Journal found that the number of power outages across the country has more than doubled since 2013. In response to growing concerns about the fragility of the nation’s grid, the Biden Administration’s infrastructure law established a program to strengthen and modernize the power grids across the country. These economic development projects will create local, 100% renewable Adaptive Networked Microgrids (ANMs) to create a stronger, more reliable grid that is more resilient to extreme weather conditions. The ANMs will utilize new grid sensing and fault location devices, communications devices, and reclosers (automatic, high-voltage electric switches that shut power off in the event of problems.)

DTE Energy and DOE, via a Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Smart Grid Grant, will each contribute nearly $23 million toward the project. This is part of a larger $10.5 billion investment by the GRIP program to, in part, increase capacity of the country’s energy transmission system, prevent faults that may lead to wildfires or other system disturbances, and integrate renewable energy at the transmission and distribution levels. It is the largest federal investment ever in grid infrastructure.

Smart Grid grants are focused on laying the groundwork for future expansion across the country. In order to qualify for the matching grant, DTE had to demonstrate their project can be adopted by the  wider energy market. DTE Energy believes that ANMs “may one day hold the key to our smarter and greener electric grid future.” A key component of this project is an emphasis on supporting disadvantaged areas with extreme energy burdens and a commitment to sharing lessons learned to drive  future deployment of similar systems.