The investments will be provided for six projects across five states, which include Missouri, California, North Carolina, Hawaii and Washington.
According to the DOE, the move will help further the deployment of advanced software that works with synchrophasor technology to better detect quickly-change grid conditions.
The US DOE office of electricity delivery and energy reliability assistant secretary Patricia Hoffman said advanced sensors and monitoring devices will help providers make decisions that may prevent power outages before they happen and adeptly respond to changing grid conditions without disruption.
"By partnering with utilities and software developers, the Energy Department can help the U.S. electric industry maintain more reliable and resilient power systems," Hoffman added.
The Energy Department worked with firms to deploy more synchrophasors across the US with the support of the Recovery Act.
The DOE said there were about 200 synchrophasors connected to the grid in 2009.
