Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 18 a Texas Energy Fund grant of more than $795,000 to strengthen electric reliability for Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative members in Northwest Texas.
The award supports the cooperative’s system modernization work at a time when the state has leaned on the Texas Energy Fund to shore up aging infrastructure and meet rising power demand.
“The Texas Energy Fund strengthens the electric systems that families, businesses, and communities depend on,” Abbott said in a news release. “This critical grant will reduce equipment failure rates, lower repair times, and prevent or shorten outages for Texans.”
According to the release, the reliability and resiliency project includes replacing 30 aging breakers across eight electrical substations. The work will benefit members in the cooperative’s service territory, including portions of Castro, Oldham, Parmer and Deaf Smith counties.
“As power demand grows throughout Texas, grid modernization remains a top priority,” said Public Utility Commission of Texas Chairman Thomas Gleeson in the release. “Investments in reliability projects strengthen our infrastructure and reinforce Texans’ confidence that dependable power will be there whenever they need it.”
The PUCT administers the Texas Energy Fund Outside ERCOT Grant Program, which the release said funds projects that improve electric reliability and resiliency for Texans served by electric utilities outside the ERCOT region. The commission said more information on that and other Texas Energy Fund programs is available on its website.