Missoula Electric Cooperative awarded $6.6M federal grant for grid upgrades to mitigate wildfire and storm risks

Missoula, MT — Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC) has secured a $6.6 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve wildfire protection and storm resilience in a portion of its service area. The grant is part of the Wildfire Assessment and Resilience for Networks (WARN) initiative, which will provide more than $145 million to enhance grid reliability in rural, high-risk regions across 16 central and western states.

MEC’s project, Seeley-Swan Undergrounding for Wildfire and Storm Safety, will bury approximately 46 miles of overhead power line in the Seeley-Swan corri...