The U.S. Department of Energy announced almost $2 billion in new funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act aimed at improving grid reliability and resilience.

The Department of Energy aims to help cities and states reduce emissions with more than $240 million in grants to promote the adoption of building performance standards

The new federal funding is aimed at building market confidence that the U.S. nuclear industry will be able to incorporate the lessons learned at Vogtle to deliver a new round of safer, more efficient SMRs on time and on budget.

The first new reactors built in the U.S. since 2016, Vogtle’s two units have come online seven years late and $17 billion over budget, leaving subsequent projects surrounded by perceptions of risk.

States participating in the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative have committed to supporting the adoption of advanced grid solutions that expand capacity and add capabilities to existing and new transmission and distribution lines.

DOE is looking to boost interregional transmission with its announcement of 10 proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, where projects could be eligible for a share of $2 billion in federal loans and special permitting under FERC’s backstop siting authority.

Streamlining and accelerating permitting is just one of the potential uses DOE envisions for AI to accelerate the U.S. power system’s transition to 100% clean energy and the modern, efficient, secure grid needed to reach that goal by 2035.

Under the Coordinated Interagency Authorizations and Permits program, DOE will lead permitting transmission projects and coordinate environmental and permitting processes between federal agencies.