SECO Energy Grant Project Approved by Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $3.46 billion in funding through its Investing in America Agenda Funds Projects through which SECO Energy has been approved to move forward in its grid resiliency project. Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the selected projects will improve the delivery of safe, reliable and affordable energy for Americans in 44 states.
SECO Energy’s Improving Resiliency Through Grid Hardening Project is approved to move forward under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The project consists of multiple interrelated components that the not-for-profit electric cooperative has developed in response to the need for accelerated resilience efforts. Multiple tropical storms and hurricanes have crossed directly through SECO’s service area with winds and flooding causing damage to the utility’s facilities and members’ property, as well as power outages. This project has a proposed price tag of over $70 million with SECO Energy’s cost share just over $17 million.
SECO Energy’s proposed project will enhance resilience by undergrounding overhead utility lines, hardening existing poles and increasing line capacity, replacing aging inefficient equipment and expanding load capacity with a new distribution substation.
The planned project will improve reliability and outage restoration times and underground 33 miles of distribution lines to improve grid reliability against extreme weather events that Central Floridians are vulnerable to.
SECO Energy CEO Curtis Wynn is thankful that SECO members will benefit from the proposed grid improvements. Wynn stated, “We are excited to share the news made possible by GRIP funding with our members. The funding accelerates our efforts to make our system more reliable and resilient, without causing undue rate pressure on our members. SECO Energy is committed to our mission, which is to provide reliable and innovative service to our members and communities, especially during hurricanes and tropical storms.”
“Like” SECO Energy on Facebook and follow @SECOEnergy on Twitter for prize drawings, news releases, and severe weather alerts affecting SECO Energy’s service territory. Manage your outage notification preferences at StormCenter. To see when SECO Energy crews/contractors are working in your area, visit our new System Improvement Map. To learn more about SECO Energy as a not-for-profit cooperative, visit About SECO Energy.
