Department of Energy Invests $360M to Connect ERCOT to U.S. Power Grid

The Texas Interconnection, operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), is famous for being isolated from the other major U.S. power grids. But that may soon finally change.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Thursday that it would provide up to $360 million in public funding to construct a 320-mile line connecting the ERCOT grid to power grids in the southeastern U.S. According to the DOE, the line, called the Southern Spirit, will be used to “enhance reliability and prevent outages” during potentially catastrophic weather events.

ERCOT’s grid, which can draw power from other grids but is otherwise contained in its own bubble, infamously failed in February 2021 during a significant freeze that gripped the entire Lone Star State. Also known as Winter Storm Uri, the freeze led to outages in 4.5 million homes across Texas.

The DOE said Thursday that the Southern Spirit line, which will run for 320 miles across Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, will have a capacity of 3,000 megawatts (MW), enough to power a minimum of 600,000 homes. The DOE anticipates the project will create more than 850 construction jobs and 305 operations jobs.

“The U.S. transmission network is the backbone of our nation's electricity system. Though our grid has served U.S. energy needs for more than a century, our country's needs are changing,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk said in a statement. ”DOE’s approach to deploying near-term solutions and developing long-term planning tools will ensure our electric grid is more interconnected and resilient than ever before, while also supporting greater electricity demand.”

The $360 million investment to connect ERCOT to a major U.S. power grid is part of the Biden Administration’s Investing in America agenda. According to Thursday’s announcement, three other energy projects across the country will also receive funding, totaling $1.5 billion in all.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to bolstering our power grid to improve the everyday life of Americans through affordable power, fewer blackouts, more reliable power and additional jobs across our country,” Turk said.

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