Grid Resilience Grant Program

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Energy Unit, in partnership with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), administers the Grid Resilience Grant Program with federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy under Section 40101(d) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) / Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The primary goal of the program is to improve the resilience and reliability of Michigan's electric grid against severe weather events, mitigate outage risks at critical facilities, expand Michigan's skilled grid workforce, and support microgrids and innovative non-wired alternative (NWA) projects, particularly benefiting communities with high energy burdens.

Eligible prime applicants are electricity providers physically located in Michigan, including Investor-Owned Utilities, Cooperative Utilities, and Municipal Utilities. Other Eligible Entities (OEEs), such as transmission owners or operators, energy storage operators, and fuel suppliers, are eligible if they partner with an eligible Michigan utility that leads the proposal. Applicants must have an active Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) registered in SAM.gov and must register as a vendor in the State of Michigan's SIGMA Vendor Self Service (VSS) system. Awardees must comply with all applicable federal regulations, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Build America, Buy America (BABA), and the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements.

Eligible projects focus on grid hardening and resilience, including physical hardening of power lines and substations, vegetation management, line relocations, replacement of aging conductors and cables, undergrounding of distribution equipment, workforce development, and non-wired alternatives like distributed energy resources and microgrids. EGLE also provides pre-reviewed project categories—such as dead and dangerous tree removal, right-of-way enhancement, aging pole/conductor replacement, and overcurrent/overvoltage protection—to streamline technical review. Ineligible projects include construction of new electric generation facilities, large-scale battery storage not used for adaptive capacity during disruptive events, cybersecurity-only projects, projects outside Michigan, or non-commercial equipment demonstrations.

Applicants must submit proposals using EGLE's online application system. A complete submission requires the online application form, an Approved Budget Form accompanied by an itemized budget narrative, a detailed project timeline, applicant and project organizational charts, and recent financial audit documentation (such as an A-133 single audit or external financial statements). Additional forms required where applicable include the Certificate of Indirect Costs, partnership support letters, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Section 106 Review forms, and NEPA documentation. Selected awardees must execute a formal Grant Agreement with the State within 45 days of notification.