Infrastructure Planning Grant

General Information

In order to provide assistance to distressed communities and those with financially distressed utility systems, TNECD has developed a grant program to help communities understand their utility needs and plan for future work.

The Infrastructure Planning grant is open to utility systems that serve distressed counties and rural communities on the financially distressed utility system referral list for any of the last 3 years provided by the Comptroller. These systems have been referred to the Utility Management Review Board or the Water and Wastewater Financing Board (now the Board of Utility Regulation) because of their net position, non-revenue water, or high levels of debt. The Boards have determined that these systems are not financially self-supporting; TNECD believes that studying the system can help the utility better serve their customers, develop capital improvement plans and develop better applications for funding to assist with improvements.

Funds can be used for up to three of the following program categories:  water system mapping and modeling, water system analysis, sewer system mapping and modeling, sewer system analysis, asset management related activities, and regionalization studies.  Each of these categories has a maximum project amount of $200,000 with a grant award maximum of $500,000.  The chart below further breaks down eligible activities under the program categories.  A 5% match is required and up to 5% of the grant amount can be used for project administration. Guidelines for the asset management plans  can be found here: Tennessee Asset Management Plan Guidance. The development of asset management plans is intended for communities with recent information on their water loss and/or I/I.  

Projects should be completed in less than 24 months. Procurement of professional services guidelines will be followed to determine who will conduct the studies and provide the reports. The information gathered as a result of this grant funding is intended to be used to help the utility plan for future improvements to their system and to develop CDBG, SRF and USDA applications for funding.  FY23-24 IPG Timeline:

·       Application Launch: September 15, 2023

·        IPG Application Webinar: October 2, 2023 at 1:00PM CST Click here to join the meeting

·       Application Deadline:  November 15, 2023

·       Award Announcements:  January 2024 

Questions about the grant program can be directed to Lynn Tutor, p.lynn.tutor@tn.gov.