A planned project for the North Dakota region, to open up more space on the electric grid, is gaining steam thanks to a new federal grant.

This month, the Department of Energy awarded up to $700 million to those helping oversee the North Plains Connector, a proposed transmission line covering parts of North Dakota and Montana.

Officials said the moves are needed to ensure grid reliability and affordable energy for consumers as the nation transitions away from fossil fuels.

Waylon Brown, regional policy manager for the Clean Grid Alliance, said the new line would accept all kinds of energy sources, including wind.

“As industry demand for electricity continues to grow, it’s going to be extremely important that we continue to modernize our grid as a whole,” Brown said.

The demand he referred to includes data centers surfacing around the country, noting having enough available energy can attract such development in local communities. Transmission projects do take several years to complete, with permitting and other factors at play. Brown acknowledged clean energy advocates also need to get more community buy-in for renewables as grid space expands.

Kevin Pranis, Minnesota and North Dakota marketing manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, predicted the project would create several hundred construction jobs. He also said if additional grid space breaks up the logjam of wind farm development, North Dakota communities could see a wave of jobs installing more wind turbines down the road.

“The renewable industry is creating good local jobs,” Pranis said. “That’s certainly true in Minnesota. We’ve seen a lot of progress there in terms of both high-quality family supporting jobs and also jobs available to local workers.”

Pranis noted unions like his are trying to convince companies in charge of renewable-energy development to not lean on out-of-state installers. In a coal-heavy state such as North Dakota, he argued it is important if more workers at those facilities need career transitions in the future. North Dakota still has several coal plants operating but it also has the fourth-highest share of wind power for any state.