NLI: Northern Lights, Inc. > Blog > NLI Receives $2.1 Million Federal Grant for Grid Upgrades to Mitigate Hazard Risks

NLI Receives $2.1 Million Federal Grant for Grid Upgrades to Mitigate Hazard Risks

Pend Orielle River near Laclede, Idaho

Northern Lights, Inc. (NLI) has received $2.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to enhance wildfire protection and resilience in the communities it serves by making critical upgrades to its electric system.

NLI is a member of a consortium of 38 electric co-ops and other rural utilities selected to receive federal funding through the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks project, or “WARN.”

NLI has proposed to upgrade and reroute portions of an existing power line that is a critical tie between two substations on opposite sides of the Pend Oreille River near Laclede, ID. This project will construct about a half mile of new underground powerline south of the river, and upgrade 5.5 miles of overhead powerline on the northside of the river. These two sections of power line will be connected through a new cable bored underneath the Pend Oreille River. This project will improve resiliency, reliability and provide increased protection from all hazards including extreme weather events and wildfire.

Led by Holy Cross Energy, a cooperative utility based in Colorado, in coordination with NRECA Research, WARN will provide more than $145 million in wildfire mitigation funding to co-ops across 16 states in the central and western United States to drive energy resilience in high-risk rural areas.

“Electric cooperatives are focused on leveraging innovative solutions to meet tomorrow’s energy needs,” said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. “This infrastructure funding is an important step as electric co-ops work to harden systems against wildfires and enhance the reliability of the grid. These projects hold tremendous potential for local communities as their co-ops unlock new ways to use technology to help mitigate wildfires and keep the lights on.”

Working together, consortium members will share lessons learned and expertise and provide real world data to create an advanced analysis tool to identify the likely impacts of utility-ignited wildfires on regional electricity supplies and local communities.

WARN funding comes from DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.