DOE lays out plan to invest billions in rural energy infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to investing in rural energy infrastructure for clean transportation, energy generation and use, and enhanced cybersecurity.
The DOE’s rural programs will put billions of dollars to work through President Biden’s infrastructure bill. Specifically, the bill created the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which will provide technical assistance to support the efficient and equitable deployment of electric vehicle charging and other related programs.
In addition, the Department of Transportation has released an online toolkit that provides a free resource to help rural stakeholders scope, plan, and fund EV charging infrastructure. Further, the DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office is working with several rural communities across the country to conduct pilot demonstrations of new mobility technologies, such as electric vehicles for carsharing and first-last mile micro-transit.
Additionally, $250 million will create a new DOE Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program to support eligible entities to protect against cyber threats. The program’s purpose is to deploy cyber technologies for electric utility systems, prioritizing critical facilities.
The infrastructure law also authorizes assistance for feasibility studies for siting advanced reactors to identify suitable locations for the deployment of micro-reactors, small modular reactors, and advanced nuclear reactors in isolated communities.
The law also provides $1 billion to improve the resilience, safety, reliability, and availability of energy and provide environmental protection from adverse impacts of energy generation in rural and remote communities with populations of 10,000 or less. Finally, funding will go toward investments in clean energy technology supply chains.
The work of this initiative is being done through the Office of Indian Energy with a focus on tribal lands, which overlap with rural lands, and the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization.
