Biden to announce more than $600 million for electric grid resilience during visit to survey Hurricane Milton damage

By Michael Williams and Nikki Carvajal, CNN

(CNN) — President Joe Biden will make yet another trip to a community devastated by a hurricane with a Sunday visit to Florida, where he will announce more than half a billion dollars in projects for electric grid resilience, the White House said, as costlier and more frequent storms continue to strain the federal government’s disaster-relief funding.

Biden’s visit to St. Petersburg to survey damage from Hurricane Milton comes after separate trips the president made earlier this month to that state, along with visits in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to tour areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

It comes as the president and other leaders have urged Congress to work to pass additional funding for disaster-relief and small-business programs with the hurricanes combining with other extreme weather events this year to rapidly drain the government’s aid funds.

The $612 million in funding Biden is set to announce, which comes as almost 1.5 million customers struggle with power outages, includes $94 million for projects specifically in Florida, a White House official said, with $47 million going to Gainesville Regional Utilities and $47 million for Switched Source to partner with Florida Power and Light.

“These investments are part of the President’s commitment to making long-term investments that protect, enhance, and upgrade our nation’s electric grid, especially in the face of extreme weather events,” the official said in a statement Saturday.

The funds will be disbursed through the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program.

While presidential visits to disaster areas are almost always nonpartisan affairs that serve to demonstrate federal and state governments transcending politics to work together, that effect is amplified now that Biden is no longer a candidate for president in the 2024 election.

Biden has frequently been in touch with Republican leaders, including the governors of Florida and Georgia and conservative members of Congress throughout Southeast areas hit by the hurricanes – and praise is frequently swapped between the state and local levels.

The president has been especially complimentary toward state and local officials’ efforts to discourage their constituents from spreading false rumors and misinformation – as leaders say they have led to threats against relief workers on the ground and caused residents to avoid seeking the aid that they need.

“Conservative, hardcore” Republicans in impacted areas, he said on Friday, “are standing up and saying, ‘It’s got to stop.’”

But the veneer of bipartisanship has been slower to translate to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has also been touring disaster sites and in touch with state and local officials. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Harris both accused each other of playing politics after reports that DeSantis ignored calls from Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. In response, DeSantis pointed out that he’s been in touch with Biden and that Harris as vice president has no role in the federal government’s response.

During his previous trip to Florida, the president met with Sen. Rick Scott, a staunch conservative and close ally of former President Donald Trump who has long been a political foil for Biden, the two setting politics aside to tour the storm-ravaged area of Keaton Beach.

Biden did not meet with DeSantis during his trip to Florida, with the governor instead holding a news conference four hours south of where the president toured.

Asked on Friday whether he planned to visit DeSantis during his latest trip, Biden replied: “If he’s available,” while calling the governor “very cooperative.”

“We got on very, very well,” Biden said.

The-CNN-Wire
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