UniSource Energy Services has earned an opportunity to receive up to $75 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund development of a new transmission line that will support long-term electric reliability in Santa Cruz County.

DOE announced Friday that UNS Electric, Inc., the operating subsidiary that provides electric service to UniSource customers, was selected to proceed with negotiations for federal funding through its Grid Resilience and Innovations Partnerships (GRIP) program. The UniSource subsidiary submitted a detailed 150-page application for the grant in late April.

The grant would help fund UniSource’s proposed Santa Cruz Reliability Project, which will upgrade the single transmission line currently serving the region to a looped system that provides greater reliability and increased capacity for economic growth. If approved, the grant could cover more than 40 percent of project costs.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to advance in the grant review process,” said Susan Gray, UniSource’s President and CEO. “Every dollar we receive would reduce the costs ultimately reflected in our future rates, supporting long-term energy affordability.

“We look forward to sharing more about how this project can transform the economic future of Santa Cruz County by creating an environment conducive to greater private investment and potentially strengthening international trade opportunities with Mexico,” Gray said.

The GRIP program will provide $10.5 billion in investments to enhance grid flexibility, improve the resilience of our nation’s power system against extreme weather, and ensure that American communities enjoy affordable, reliable, electricity when and where they need it. The program is administered by the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office.

The Santa Cruz Reliability Project will benefit the fresh produce industry, mining operations, businesses engaged in the electric vehicle supply chain, and other business and retail customers throughout the region. A stronger, more resilient energy grid will stimulate future private sector investments throughout the region, including in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of the county.

UniSource prepared the application in collaboration with local community leaders including the Fresh Produce Association, City of Nogales, Sun Corridor Inc., Greater Nogales-Santa Cruz Port Authority, Santa Cruz County and others. The project will be executed in collaboration with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

“As extreme weather events continue to stress electric systems across the country, the Biden-Harris Administration is using every tool in the toolbox to make sure America’s power grid can provide reliable, affordable power,” said Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy. “The new UNS Electric transmission line will enhance reliability and make it easier and faster to add clean energy resources to protect underserved communities from outages and promote parity in clean energy technology adoption.”

The award negotiation process is expected to take a minimum of 120 days. See the DOE press release here: https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-2-billion-protect-grid-against-growing.

The Santa Cruz Reliability Project North – the first of three phases to improve the transmission system in Santa Cruz County – is already in the planning phase and has initiated public outreach. This phase of the project will strengthen the local energy grid by constructing a second 138 kilovolt (kV) transmission line to connect the Kantor Substation, located in Santa Cruz County, to the Canoa Ranch Substation, located in Pima County. All phases of the project are expected to be completed and in service for customers by 2030. To learn more about the Santa Cruz Reliability Project, visit uesaz.com/santa-cruz-reliability.

UniSource provides electric service to more than 103,000 customers in Mohave and Santa Cruz counties. It also provides natural gas service to more than 168,000 customers in northern and southern Arizona. For more information about UniSource, visit uesaz.com. UniSource and its parent company, UNS Energy, are subsidiaries of Fortis, Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For more information visit fortisinc.com.

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