Colorado Advanced Grid Monitoring Grants are available to support electric utilities in funding critical grid monitoring and resilience projects. The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) will prioritize funding based on demonstrated need, project impact, project readiness, and labor impact. These resilience projects will facilitate distribution-level monitoring and/or modeling of a variety of impacts on different portions of the grid. This funding comes from part of Colorado’s appropriation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation (BIL) (2021) 40101(d) Grid Resiliency funding.
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Contact information
Overview
Type: Grant
For: All Colorado Utilities
Amount: Maximum $495,166 per applicant; $1,980,666 total funding available for the first year
Match: One-third match required for smaller utilities (less than 4 million MWh sold in 2022); 100% cost match (or 50% cost share) for larger utilities (more than 4 million MWh sold in 2022)
RFA rounds: 1st round is closed. Future rounds to be announced later in 2024.
Eligible applicants
All Colorado electric utilities are eligible to apply for this grant.
Eligible projects
- Fire monitoring technologies and fire prevention systems
- Advanced Vegetation and fuel-load management, using LiDAR, satellites, AI, or other information technology
- Distribution pole sensors
- Smart meters (advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI)
- Grid modeling
A total of $1,980,666 in funding was available in the first round. We expect three subsequent funding cycles, with each containing approximately half of the $1.98 million available in the first round of funding. A cost match is required from all applicants. The cost match can be cash, in-kind, or a combination of the two. Cost match requirements are as follows:
- One-third match required for smaller utilities that sold less than 4 million MWh in 2022
- For example, if the applicant requests the maximum allowable $495,166, the utility would need to match at least $165,055 (one-third of the maximum allowable grant), for a total project cost of $660,221
- 100% cost match (or 50% cost share) for larger utilities that sold more than 4 million MWh in 2022
- For example, if a large utility requests the maximum allowable $495,166, the utility would need to match at least $495,166, for a total minimum project cost of $990,332
The application period for the first funding round is now closed. CEO expects to announce awards in Spring 2024.
CEO will announce the next round of funding and details on how to apply Spring or Summer 2024. Check this webpage for updates.
Please reach out to gridresiliency@state.co.us with any questions.
A Selection Committee made up of Colorado Energy Office, DOLA Colorado Resiliency Office, and DORA staff will review and score applications according to the following criteria:
- Demonstrated need - 40%
- Historic frequency and duration of power outages
- Proportion of historically underserved populations in the target community or communities
- Demonstrated financial need utility
- Project Impact - 30%
- Climate risk and social vulnerability of the target population and how the project will mitigate those risks and vulnerabilities
- Ability of the project to mitigate risks of power outages to the community
- Labor Impact - 10%
- The extent to which the applicant employs strong labor standards and protections, such as project labor agreements, training practices, plans to partner with training providers, and use of an appropriately credentialed workforce
- Project Readiness - 20%
- Demonstration of administrative, technical, and operational preparedness
CEO will make final project award decisions and will contact awarded applicants with the next steps to formally execute a grant agreement. CEO will also notify applicants not selected for grant funding via email.
Awarded applicants must enter a formal grant agreement with CEO to receive funds. CEO will issue payment as reimbursements. Work the applicant performs before formally executing a grant agreement with CEO is not eligible for reimbursement.