Governor Katie Hobbs announced Thursday that her office has awarded $15.6 million to four grid-resilience projects across Arizona that will directly benefit customers in the Tucson region. The four awards will be matched by recipient cost shares to generate about $27 million in total investment aimed at reducing outages, lowering costs and limiting wildfire risk.
The awards, made through the Governor’s Office of Resiliency’s Arizona Grid Resilience Grant Program, are expected to benefit more than 1.6 million utility customers and to specifically reduce outages for nearly 290,000 customers. Officials say the projects will cut wildfire risk by about 20% in the regions targeted by wildfire mitigation efforts, extend equipment lifespan and improve the grid’s ability to withstand extreme weather.
“I’m investing in Arizona’s affordable energy future and strengthening our energy system, because it’s critical to the success of our families and businesses,” Hobbs said. “These projects will significantly boost grid reliability, decrease power outages, reduce wildfire and extreme weather risks, and lower costs for Arizonans.”…