The objective of this Program is to improve the resilience of the electric grid against disruptive events. Per BIL section 40101(a)(1),17 a disruptive event is “an event in which operations of the electric grid are disrupted, preventively shut off, or cannot operate safely due to extreme weather, wildfire, or a natural disaster.” To achieve this objective, funding provided by DOE under this Program may be used to implement a wide range of resilience measures intended to mitigate the impact of disruptive events, including:

a) weatherization technologies and equipment;

b) fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention systems;

c) monitoring and control technologies;

d) the undergrounding of electrical equipment;

e) utility pole management;

f) the relocation of power lines or the reconductoring of power lines with low-sag, advanced conductors;

g) vegetation and fuel-load management;

h) the use or construction of distributed energy resources for enhancing system adaptive capacity during disruptive events, including: microgrids and battery-storage subcomponents;

i) adaptive protection technologies;

j) advanced modeling technologies;

k) hardening of power lines, facilities, substations, of other systems; and

l) the replacement of old overhead conductors and underground cables.