Grand Valley Power has received a nearly $2 million federal grant to upgrade power lines atop the Grand Mesa.

A member of a consortium of 38 electric cooperatives and other rural utilities,  Grand Valley Power was selected to receive a $1.95 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks (WARN) project.

Grand Valley Power will use the funding to relocate underground 4.1 miles of power lines serving the Mesa Lakes area.

“These funds are critical to Grand Valley Power’s ability to increase reliability and mitigate the risk of wildfire on the Grand Mesa,” said Matt Williams, chief operating officer of Grand Valley Power. “The line is largely inaccessible except on foot or, in times of bad weather, on snowmobile. With the conversion to underground, residents can anticipate fewer power outages. Underground lines also offer significantly more protection from the threat of wildfire ignition by utility equipment.”

Grand Valley Power will provide matching funds. Work is expected to begin in the spring.

The WARN project will provide more than $145 million in wildfire mitigation funding to co-ops across 16 states in the central and western United States. WARN funding comes from the DOE Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“Electric cooperatives are focused on leveraging innovative solutions to meet tomorrow’s energy needs,” said Jim Mathewson, chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. “This infrastructure funding is an important step as electric co-ops work to harden systems against wildfires and enhance the reliability of the grid.”