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In this Newsletter:
- Message from the President
- New BEL Video on Beneficial Electrification
- BEL Helps Mississippi Utilities Advance $13.8M in Grid Modernization Grants
- What We're Reading
- BEL Assists with $10M Awarded in PA Grid Resilience Funding
- BEL Presents at Appalachia Builds Conference
- Tullahoma Utilities Authority Receives $1.5 Million from Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative
- Court Vacates IRS Notice 2025-42, Reinstating "5% Safe Harbor" for Wind, Solar Projects
- The City of Niles, Ohio Receives over $400k from Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative
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A Message from the President | |
While this spring has lacked some of the blockbuster federal energy policy shifts as seen in 2025, we are nonetheless in the midst of one of the most complex and nuanced energy landscapes of the past decade.
Rising fuel prices driven by conflict in the Middle East, combined with the electric sector's efforts to address data center growth, reliability, and affordability have created significant uncertainty. The long-term outcomes remain unclear. Will these developments accelerate demand flexibility, encourage greater adoption of electric alternatives to oil, drive new fossil fuel production, spark a nuclear renaissance, lead to overbuilt generation and stranded assets, unlock major AI-driven efficiency breakthroughs, or simply fall short of expectations? Your guess is as good as ours.
One thing is certain: investments in electric infrastructure remain critical under every scenario. Equally important is the ability to follow through on projects already underway and ensure that communities realize their intended benefits.
This spring, BEL has been as busy as ever helping stakeholders navigate this evolving energy landscape. Changes in federal policy have given way to a more complicated interplay among court decisions, political realities, and administrative implementation. As highlighted throughout this newsletter, federal funding continues to move forward, program requirements continue to evolve, and demand for electric technologies and infrastructure shows no signs of slowing.
As these developments unfold and we move toward the midterm election season, BEL remains a steady and trusted resource for the organizations we serve. We are honored to support rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, and other energy stakeholders as they work to deliver the benefits of electricity to communities across the country and prepare for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
| BEL President Keith Dennis | | New BEL Video on Beneficial Electrification | | BEL recently updated its popular explainer video that educates stakeholders on the concept of Beneficial Electrification. The video now explains how Beneficial Electrification sits alongside some of the thorniest energy challenges facing industry today including the growing energy appetite of data centers and concerns about electricity affordability. BEL encourages organizations to use this video and other BEL videos in stakeholder educational efforts. | | BEL Helps Mississippi Utilities Advance $13.8 Million in Grid Modernization Grants | |
BEL, through technical assistance supported by the Appalachian Regional Commission and a contract with the Mississippi Development Authority, helped 12 Mississippi electric utilities advance to the next stage of consideration for approximately $13.8 million in electric grid modernization grants. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Mississippi $17,965,540 to fund activities designed to modernize the electric grid and reduce impacts due to extreme weather and natural disasters. These funds will be used to ensure the reliability of the utility sector infrastructure so that communities have access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity.
The selected projects represent a diverse group of utilities, including eight municipal electric systems, three electric cooperatives, and one investor-owned utility. Proposed investments include advanced SCADA and smart grid technologies, transmission and substation upgrades, feeder modernization, grid sectionalization, automated outage management, and reliability improvements designed to reduce outages and improve restoration times. Together, these projects will strengthen electric infrastructure, enhance resilience, and support economic development in communities across Mississippi.
BEL is proud to support utilities as they pursue innovative investments that improve reliability, affordability, and long-term grid performance for the customers they serve. See more about the projects we are supporting at: Beneficial Electrification Impact - American Electric Infrastructure.
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Great reads on electrification trends around the web from Reuters to Latitude Media to Time Magazine
| With BEL’s Support, Multiple Local Governments, Electric Co-Ops Selected to Receive Pennsylvania Grid Resilience Grant Funding | |
On March 16, the State of Pennsylvania announced its selections to receive more than $10 million from the state’s 2026 Grid Resilience Grants (PA GRG) funding program. BEL is pleased to have supported four of winning organizations on their successful grant applications:
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Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative, $2.1 million award: The rural electric cooperative will install a 1.5 MW battery energy system to the substation that supplies the county 911 center and other facilities around the I-81 corridor to reduce outages. The cooperative experienced several events in 2024 that resulted in outages to critical facilities. This project aims to reduce outages by 44 percent in the worst performing areas.
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REA Energy Cooperative, $1.5 million award: The rural distribution system will be upgraded with over 70 smart grid technology equipment that will reduce outages to 9,000 rural customers. This project will decrease time to restore power and provide remote outage detection capabilities.
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Borough of Duncannon, $507,840 award: The Borough will implement smart grid technology to isolate its system and add a connection point to loop their distribution area. This investment will reduce outages by 25 percent.
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Borough of Schuylkill Haven, $994,000 award: The borough will purchase an Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Supervisory Control Data Acquisition system (SCADA), providing data instantly to the borough. This will reduce response time to outages and provide resiliency to the community.
Funded by a state formula grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Section 40101D, titled Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid, the GRG program is a funding opportunity to implement resilience measures throughout PA intended to mitigate the impact of electric grid disruptive events.
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BEL Presents at Appalachia Builds Conference | |
In June, Sarah Plutnicki, BEL Grant Strategy Lead, presented at the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Appalachia Builds Conference in Starkville, Mississippi. Sarah joined with BEL partners Tullahoma Utilities Authority and the South Central Tennessee Development District to share how targeted electric infrastructure investments can support economic growth, improve reliability, and enhance site readiness for industry. Their presentation featured a case study of a rural Tennessee grid modernization project addressing substation-level voltage challenges, demonstrating how relatively modest infrastructure upgrades can unlock private investment, support job creation, and strengthen long-term community resilience while also serving as a highly replicable model. See the team's slides here.
BEL looks forward to continuing these collaborations and supporting partners across the region in developing competitive, fundable projects that align infrastructure investment with long-term economic opportunity.
| Tullahoma Utilities Authority Receives $1.5 Million from Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative | |
Tullahoma Utilities Authority has been awarded $1,500,000 by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to install regulator banks at three substations in Franklin and Coffee Counties, Tennessee. This award is made available through ARC’s POWER (Partnerships for Opportunities and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative.
POWER offers federal grant funding for projects that help Appalachian coal communities expand economic opportunities by creating high-quality, in-demand jobs in multiple industries, attracting new sources of private investment and providing comprehensive workforce services and skills training.
Learn more at www.arc.gov/POWER
| | Court Vacates IRS Notice 2025-42, Reinstating "5% Safe Harbor" for Wind, Solar Projects | | |
In June, a federal district court vacated IRS Notice 2025-42, which had eliminated the "Five Percent Safe Harbor" for determining when wind and solar projects begin construction to qualify for federal clean energy tax credits. The court case, Oregon Environmental Council v. IRS, No. CV-25-4400 (D.D.C. June 6, 2026), centered on a notice the IRS issued following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. Through Notice 2025-42, the IRS restricted utility-scale wind and solar projects to a Physical Work Test only, explicitly revoking their ability to use the 5% Safe Harbor method for which a taxpayer can demonstrate the facility had "begun construction.” Other zero-emission energy technologies (such as geothermal and nuclear) retained access to the safe harbor method.
A coalition including the Oregon Environmental Council, the NRDC, and local governments argued that eliminating the 5% safe harbor method unfairly targeted wind and solar facilities while leaving other zero-emission technologies untouched. On June 6, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed, vacating the IRS guidance, ruling that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act and was "arbitrary and capricious,” meaning that the longstanding definition of "beginning of construction" is now back in effect for wind and solar projects with just a few weeks left before the solar and wind tax credits expire on July 4.
While the decision is a significant win for renewable energy developers, the IRS could still file an appeal, seek a stay, or attempt to issue revised rules that address the administrative flaws identified by the court. BEL will share any late-breaking updates, as appropriate.
Read more
| | The City of Niles, Ohio Receives Over $400k from Appalachian Regional Commission's POWER Initiative | |
The City of Niles, Ohio has been awarded $402,500 by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) to expand electrical capacity in the City of Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio. This award is made available through ARC’s POWER (Partnerships for Opportunities and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative.
POWER offers federal grant funding for projects that help Appalachian coal communities expand economic opportunities by creating high-quality, in-demand jobs in multiple industries, attracting new sources of private investment and providing comprehensive workforce services and skills training.
Learn more at www.arc.gov/POWER
| | Support Beneficial Electrification Progress in 2026 | | |
Communities, utilities, states, and businesses are the driving force behind beneficial electrification progress in the United States. Together, we have made remarkable strides over the past decade, and with your support, we can maintain this momentum.
BEL is funded by its members, sponsors, and philanthropy organizations. We need your help to expand our efforts to advance markets, improve access to electrification technologies, and support solutions that simultaneously grow local economies, improve grid reliability, and reduce emissions. Consider joining BEL’s member-sponsor network or support BEL’s 2026 strategic initiatives as a donor.
Join BEL’s Member-Sponsor Network | Support BEL’s Strategic Initiatives as a Donor
| | About the Beneficial Electrification League (BEL) | |
The Beneficial Electrification League (BEL) is leading nonpartisan coalition of diverse organizations committed to making beneficial electrification as a core strategy for addressing today’s energy, environmental, and economic challenges.
BEL’s newsletter provides periodic updates about the programs and accomplishments of BEL and its member organizations.
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