Local electric co-op says federal-state grant will fund wildfire-mitigation upgrades
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Summary
Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative officials said a federal-state resilience grant will fund non-explosive fuses, expanded drone inspections and underground cable locating equipment to reduce wildfire risk and improve reliability for members.
Representatives from Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) told listeners on KWCD that the co-op won funding through a state-administered resilience grant supported by the U.S. Department of Energy to strengthen distribution infrastructure against wildfires and extreme weather.
Jesus Moreno, SSVEC vice president of engineering, and Nathan Hodges, senior vice president of operations, described three principal uses for SSVEC’s portion of the award: installing non-explosive fuses in high-fire areas to avoid sparking during faults; expanding drone inspection programs to find problems in remote terrain; and adding equipment to the underground distribution system to better locate and isolate damaged cable and reduce outage times. "By installing those in our high fire areas, it won't create a spark, which is definitely a very important wildfire mitigation tool," Moreno said.
On-air figures given by SSVEC staff said the federal grant for the program was "a little over $4.5 million," with roughly $1.6 million allocated to SSVEC projects; they said the total investment in Arizona for the program would be about $77 million and noted cooperatives must provide an approximate 50% match. Hodges said those grants and in-kind partnerships will allow upgrades without increasing members' electric bills. "That's the great part," he said. "It allows us to make important system upgrades without placing the full cost on our members."
Moreno and Hodges said SSVEC partnered with other Arizona cooperatives and tribal partners during the application process and that the governor's office had indicated additional funding rounds could be available in the future. They directed listeners to ssvec.org and SSVEC social channels for updates.
On-air, SSVEC identified the program by name as the "Arizona Bridal Resilience Grant Program" and said it was administered by the governor's office of resiliency and supported by the Department of Energy through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The broadcast description contained several transcription inconsistencies in proper names; the article presents the coop’s account as stated on-air and notes the documentation listeners should consult with the coop for exact program naming and award details.