PTI publishes guide to energy assurance grants

A publication from the Washington-based Public Technology Institute (PTI) aims to serve as a resource for cities seeking part of $10.5 million in grants that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is providing to guard against power supply disruptions. “Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines,” published with support from the DOE, addresses energy assurance and security concerns for mission-critical government facilities.

The DOE grants are available through the Local Energy Assurance Planning (LEAP) initiative, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). LEAP’s goal is to facilitate local governments’ recovery from disruptions to the energy supply and accelerate repair of outages by creating well-developed, standardized energy assurance and resiliency plans to follow during energy emergencies and supply disruptions.

Cities that apply for funding will focus on developing new, or refining existing, plans to integrate new energy portfolios (renewables, biofuels, etc.) and new applications, such as Smart Grid technology, into their energy assurance and emergency preparedness plans. According to PTI, better planning efforts contribute to the resiliency of the energy sector, including the electricity grid, by focusing on the entire energy supply system, which includes refining, storage, and distribution of fossil and renewable fuels.

View the “Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines” from PTI. Information on the LEAP initiative can be found on Fedconnect at (see the public opportunities section, funding number DE-FOA-0000098).