Oneida-Madison Electric Cooperative is excited to announce its involvement as a subrecipient in a $27 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. Spearheaded by Delaware County Electric Cooperative, OMEC, along with Otsego Electric Cooperative, and Steuben Rural Electric Cooperative, all from New York, as well as Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative of New Jersey and Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative of Pennsylvania will receive these federal funds for strategic grid hardening, advanced technology and smart grid deployment, and extreme weather and invasive species resilience.

OMEC CEO and General Manager, Brian Bell, said, “Oneida-Madison Electric Cooperative is excited to partner with our fellow cooperatives in this collaborative effort to strengthen our infrastructures. The Resilience to Intense Storm and Invasive Species-Triggered (RESIST) Grid Disruptions project reflects our shared dedication to ensuring reliable energy for the members we serve.”

GRIP is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was enacted in 2021. NYS Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, was an avid supporter of the cooperatives’ application to the Department of Energy, writing in support of the project to the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm: “The six electric cooperatives’ proposed project will deliver much-needed upgrades to rural electric grids in three states and enable load growth that the region’s aging electric infrastructure has otherwise constrained.”

The grant will be administered over a period of five years to the cooperatives as they plan, procure, and work together to increase the durability of electrical grid, hoping to improve major outages caused by extreme weather and invasive species by up to 50%.