More than 1.6 million Arizona utility customers, businesses to benefit from $27 million in combined grid resilience investments

Phoenix, AZ – Today, Governor Katie Hobbs awarded $15.6 million for four grid resiliency projects that will strengthen and modernize Arizona's power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other disasters.

Awarded through the Governor's Office of Resiliency's Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program, the four grid improvement projects will help reduce the number of outages and outage durations for households and businesses in Arizona by investing in grid modernization and resilience projects. With a cost match from awardees, Arizonans will benefit from a $27 million investment in Arizona's grid system.

"I'm investing in Arizona's affordable energy future and strengthening our energy system because it's critical to the success of our families and businesses. These projects will significantly boost grid reliability, decrease power outages, reduce wildfire and extreme weather risks, and lower costs for Arizonans," said Governor Katie Hobbs. "Investments in Arizona energy are investments in growing our economy, creating more jobs, and ensuring opportunity for all Arizonans. I will continue to strengthen Arizona's affordable energy economy so Arizona can thrive now and in the future."

The four awarded projects are expected to:

• Reduce power outages for nearly 290,000 Arizona customers.
• Reduce wildfire risk by 20% in wildfire-project regions.
• Enhance the grid's capacity to withstand extreme weather events and wildfires, reducing outage impacts on local businesses, households, schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure.
• Enhance and help identify future decisions related to grid resilience.
• Extend equipment lifespan, reducing the financial strain on Arizona residents' energy bills.

"The Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program invests in modernizing the Arizona power grid to protect Arizonans. These awarded projects reach customers in every county of the state and address critical areas vulnerable to extreme weather risks," said Maren Mahoney, Director of the Governor's Office of Resiliency. "These innovative improvements to our energy system will help prevent extreme weather damage and reduce impacts on Arizona families and businesses."

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The first round of awards for the Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program includes both investor-owned and electric cooperatives, ensuring Arizonans in rural and urban communities experience the direct and indirect benefits of the four projects. Awarded projects include:

• Rural Arizona Cooperative Grid Hardening Project: A collaboration among Mohave Electric Cooperative (MEC), Duncan Valley Electric Cooperative (DVEC), and Graham County Electric Cooperative (GCEC). This project focuses on undergrounding electrical equipment, upgrading poles with more durable iron, reconducting, or replacing older electrical conductors with newer, more efficient lines to reduce outages, and strengthening poles, conductors, and cables to withstand extreme conditions.
• Strengthening Arizona's Grid Utilizing Advanced Resilience Operations ("SAGUARO"): Arizona Public Service Company will help increase electric grid resilience, reduce outages, improve economic resilience, and support energy workforce opportunities. This project focuses on advanced monitoring to detect and relay vital information to first responders in real-time, grid hardening, and equipping new wooden poles with fire mesh.
• The Ligurta Substation Modernization Project- Grid Resilience Grant: Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District will support critical infrastructure upgrades to foster greater economic stability in the region. This project will enhance monitoring and control technologies to facilitate quicker responses and diagnoses, upgrade circuit breakers, and strengthen grid hardening of power lines and systems.
• Wildfire Mitigation and Grid Resilience Project: A collaboration between Navopache Electric Cooperative, Trico Electric Cooperative, and Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative. This project focuses on increasing the resilience of the electric grid and decreasing the frequency and duration where applicable. They aim to upgrade fuses to reduce wildfire ignitions, install animal protective materials, and utilize drones to enhance fault detection and location.  

"We're grateful for Governor Katie Hobbs' support and commitment to our state's energy future. The Arizona Grid Resilience Grant will help us protect our energy grid from increasing wildfire risk and grow APS's network of advanced artificial intelligence smoke-detection cameras," said Jacob Tetlow, APS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "APS powers Arizona with safe and reliable energy and initiatives like this grant help us continue to build a strong and affordable electrical grid for the communities we serve."

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"This project gives our three cooperatives the ability to tackle wildfire risk and reliability challenges together," said Jason Bowling, CEO of Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative. "The funding helps each of us complete system-hardening work that benefits our members in rural Arizona communities today and over the long term."

"Our commitment to our members begins with ensuring a reliable energy system," said Tyler Carlson, Chief Executive Officer of Mohave Electric Cooperative. "This grant accelerates the timeline to implement these important projects for our three rural co-ops including infrastructure upgrades, underground cabling, and system hardening that will reduce the frequency and duration of outages caused by severe weather events including high winds and lightning."

"The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is honored to work with the Governor's Office of Resiliency through the Arizona Grid Resiliency Grant Program. The Ligurta Substation Modernization Project will provide more reliable energy and foster greater economic stability for the District's service area," said Elston Grubaugh, General Manager at Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District. "This investment will modernize the grid, ensuring the region is better prepared for future disruptions and contributing to long-term resilience and sustainability."

The Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program awards grants to state utilities and grid operators for projects that invest in measures designed to reduce the likelihood and consequences of disruptive events. Measures may include electrical wire undergrounding, microgrid infrastructure, pole hardening, grid hardening projects, and advanced control sensors for advanced reliability.

Awarded projects for the first round of the Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program are expected to be completed by the end of 2027. The Governor's Office of Resiliency plans to fund additional Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program projects as federal funding is available.

Funding for the Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program comes from the U.S. Department of Energy's Grid Resilience Formula Grant Program and is authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, managed through the US Department of Energy- Office of Energy, and administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.

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