- Grant will help fund 40-mile transmission line rebuild in
Wake, Johnston and Wayne counties to improve reliability for an
estimated 14,000 customers
RALEIGH,
N.C., Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer
Granholm today announced the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE)'s Grid Deployment Office has selected the
North Carolina Innovative Transmission Rebuild project to
receive $57 million in cost-share
funding to enhance the power grid's ability to deliver affordable,
resilient energy. The project – a partnership between Duke
Energy, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and
State Energy Office – aims to reconstruct the 230-kV
Lee-Milburnie transmission line to improve reliability for
customers and meet growing electricity demand in eastern
North Carolina.
"The grant announced today by the Department of Energy is a win
for the communities Duke Energy serves, and signals North Carolina's leadership in the energy
transition," said Kendal Bowman,
Duke Energy North Carolina state president. "This project will help
reduce outages, enhance the power system's resilience against
extreme weather, enable the connection of more clean energy sources
to the grid and create job opportunities and new partnerships with
community organizations."
The Lee-Milburnie transmission line spans from the Greater Raleigh area to outside Goldsboro, N.C., including portions of
Wake, Johnston and Wayne counties. The line rebuild will take
place in the existing right of way to minimize the impact to nearby
communities.
"Supporting our customers by helping ensure they have reliable
service and restoring that service safely and quickly when we need
to is our No. 1 job," said Scott
Batson, senior vice president and chief power grid officer
at Duke Energy. "The generous grant provided by the U.S. Department
of Energy for this transmission line reconstruction work will
improve the reliability of the grid while delivering affordable,
clean energy to our customers."
The funds are part of the Grid Resilience and
Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program, the federal
government's single largest direct investment into critical grid
infrastructure. Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law and administered by DOE's Grid Deployment Office, the GRIP
program leverages federal and private investments to support a
reliable grid that is prepared for extreme weather while also
delivering affordable, clean energy and creating local economic
opportunities.
"This funding will help support North Carolinians' efforts to
invest in grid resiliency, improve reliability, and meet
electricity demand," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "The Biden-Harris
Administration is investing in the most crucial component of the
nation's infrastructure, expanding and hardening the grid to allow
more resilient, clean power to reach more household, and support
the ongoing manufacturing boom—all while creating thousands of
local jobs."
This North Carolina Innovative Transmission Rebuild will create
robust opportunities for local economic development, including
significant investments in workforce development programs at
Nash Community College and North Carolina A&T State University.
"North Carolina A&T State
University and STEPs4GROWTH are proud to be partners in
developing a skilled workforce in support of Duke Energy's efforts
to deliver reliable, affordable energy to its customers," said
Balu Gokaraju, Ph.D., principal
investigator for the STEPs4GROWTH program. "This project represents
a significant investment that will not only enhance the grid but
also benefit the community by creating good jobs with family
sustaining wages."
The joint effort will create an estimated 550 new jobs that can
be filled through partnerships with historically black colleges and
universities (HBCUs) and local community colleges.
"We have been a proud partner of Duke Energy for many years and
are truly excited about this new initiative to enhance power grid
reliability in North Carolina,"
said Lew K. Hunnicutt, President of
Nash Community College. "We look
forward to doing our part to support this important project, which
will benefit our community through new job opportunities for
skilled workers."
To learn more, visit the U.S. Department of Energy Grid
Deployment Office's website.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., is one of
America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric
utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities
serve 1.7 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition,
keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the
forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions
from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions
from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in
major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including
expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and
the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook,
and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations
powering our energy transition.
Contact: Logan Stewart
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy