Grid Hardening for Small and Rural Communities Grant Program
Forecasted
Grid Hardening for Small and Rural Communities Grant Program supports Colorado cooperatives and municipal utilities in hardening grids against wildfire and extreme weather to reduce outages.
Funder: Colorado Energy Office
Due Dates (Anticipated): November 2026 (Application submission)
Funding Amounts: Up to $1,000,000 per applicant for up to five budget years; minimum match of one-third of the award
Summary: Supports Colorado rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities in hardening electrical grids against wildfires, extreme weather, and other disruptive events.
Key Information: Applicants must sell less than 4 million MWh annually, and most project beneficiaries must reside in qualifying small or rural communities.
Description
The Colorado Energy Office (CEO), in partnership with the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), supports critical grid-hardening projects that reduce power outages and strengthen community-level resilience. The program uses Colorado’s allocation of Section 40101(d) Grid Resiliency funding under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with CEO administering funds passed through from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The program focuses on cooperative and municipal utilities with demonstrated financial need and projects that reduce outage frequency and duration. Priorities include communities facing higher climate risk and social vulnerability, project readiness, labor impact, and proposed cost match. Supported improvements protect utility infrastructure against extreme weather, wildfire, and natural disasters rather than replacing utilities’ normal operating budgets.
