FEMA Public Assistance Now Available to Restore West Virginians’ Permanent Infrastructure
FEMA Public Assistance Now Available to Restore West Virginians’ Permanent Infrastructure CHARLESTON, W.Va. — FEMA Public Assistance is now available to support Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Summers, Wayne, and Wyoming counties to help with infrastructure costs from the Feb. 15 – 18, 2025 winter flooding. The Public Assistance Program is FEMA’s largest grant program, providing funding to assist states, federally-recognized tribal governments, U.S. territories, local governments, and certain types of private nonprofits. Public Assistance grants help pay for emergency and permanent work that helps communities respond to and recover from disasters. Public Assistance The major disaster declaration
Above-average hurricane activity disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure in 2024
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which ran from June 1 through November 30, exhibited above-average activity with more named storms and hurricanes than usual, including several that disrupted U.S. energy infrastructure, primarily on the Gulf Coast and in the Southeast. Energy impacts from hurricanes this season were most notable in electricity markets, although Hurricanes Francine, Helene, and Rafael forced some oil and natural gas production from fields in the Gulf of Mexico to be shut in.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helps scientists map geology of Puerto Rico
The resulting data will be used by scientists at the USGS, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, and other groups to better inform knowledge of geologic hazards, such as earthquakes and landslides, and evaluate natural resources as well as other applications. These investments will help improve various aspects of the Puerto Rican economy and resiliency to natural hazards and resource management issues, such as the risk for damaging earthquakes. Puerto Rico was the site of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in 2020 that caused extensive damage, including to the important Costa Sur power plant, which resulted in island-wide power outages
Grid infrastructure investments drive increase in utility spending over last two decades
Annual spending by major utilities to produce and deliver electricity increased 12% from $287 billion in 2003 to $320 billion in 2023 as measured in real 2023 dollars, according to financial reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Capital investment in electric infrastructure mostly drove the increase, more than doubling over the period as: