City Awarded $1.83 Million For Electric Grid
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced last week that Tennessee Valley Authority and 10 local power companies including the City of Water Valley were selected for a grant from the DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program to fund energy security. The City of Water Valley Electric Department will receive $1.833 million from the grant that requires the city to also kick in the same amount in matching funds.
“This is very good news for Water Valley and the area that is served by our electric department,” Mayor Tommy Reynolds reported. “This will help immeasurably with grid resilience for the city.”
Reynolds reported a $1.5 million allocation the city received from the state coffers during the 2024 Legislative Session will provide the bulk of the match, with the remaining $333,000 coming from other sources. Reynolds also said the city was the final applicant accepted by TVA for the grant.
The application for the GRIP program was submitted just days after Reynolds took office in February when he learned about the opportunity during a meeting hosted by North Central Planning and Development District. The grant was funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Project passed by Congress in 2021. Reynolds noted that 2nd District Congressman Bennie Thompson and Senator Roger Wicker supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Project.
“It works so much better when everyone pulls together at the federal, state and local level,” Reynolds added.
The mayor also cautioned that it will take time to make upgrades to the city’s electric grid.
“The lead time can’t be measured in months, it will be measured in years,” Reynolds explained. “Some of the equipment in our grid is older that I am and we can’t have that, we have to get with the modern age.”
