DOE Awards TVA $250 Million for Grid Upgrades

The U.S. Department of Energy is providing the Tennessee Valley Authority $250 million to help fund 84 transmission and distribution projects across eight states, with project partners contributing about $331 million for a total investment of roughly $581 million. The upgrades are expected to add about 2,500 megawatts of grid capacity, support around 800 jobs and improve reliability while easing transmission congestion; officials also said they could help control electricity costs but did not quantify the savings. The award is part of DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, and final funding and project details remain subject to agreements and environmental, permitting and regulatory reviews. It builds on a separate TVA project to upgrade about 125 miles of transmission lines in Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina.