During our Annual Meeting last week, our Members were introduced to Mike Julian, EVP with Tantalus (ECG’s Strategic Partner for Smart Grid Technologies), and Perry Adair, Lawyer with Becker & Poliakoff, a Washington D.C. Law Firm.
Mike & Perry educated us on how ECG Communities can use their experience and application knowledge for leveraging existing and future federal funding opportunities for a variety of qualifying projects related to distribution systems, EV charging systems, broadband networking, and many others that provide modernization and optimization of smart grid systems.
One of those funding opportunities is the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) which passed in Congress last March. The ARPA provides $350 billion in highly flexible direct allocations for state, local, and territorial governments, focusing on use for critical infrastructure. Georgia and its cities and counties will receive $4.853 billion of that $350 billion by direct allocation. Half of that funding was previously distributed this year, and the remaining half will be disbursed next May. The goal of these funds is to make your community whole and help stimulate the economy through spending on infrastructure, innovation, and government service.
