S. 4193 — Wildfire and Grid Reliability Act

This section establishes within the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity a grant program, to be implemented not later than 90 days after enactment, under which the Secretary of Energy awards grants to eligible entities—electric utilities including publicly owned, municipal, cooperatively owned, investor-owned, and federal electric utilities (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Power Act)—for supplemental activities that enhance public safety by either reducing the risk of power lines causing wildfires or increasing power grid reliability against natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, ice storms, wind storms). Grant applications require either a wildfire mitigation plan or a report on past, current, and future grid reliability efforts; allowable uses include undergrounding or hardening power lines, vegetation management, microgrid facilities, and related upgrades. In awarding grants, the Secretary prioritizes projects with the greatest community benefit relative to cost; reserves at least 40% of funds for wildfire risk reduction and 20% for small utilities selling no more than 4 million megawatt-hours annually; and requires a 100% match (or 1/3 for small utilities), with eligible entities' prior-year expenditures countable toward the match.