(Reuters) – The White House announced through the Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday that it is soliciting grant applications for $13 billion in new financing under the bipartisan infrastructure bill for the expansion and modernization of the U.S. electric grid. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, passed last year, provides $10.5 billion to harden power systems against growing threats like extreme weather and climate change, the DOE said, and a further $2.5 billion to help build new transmission lines. An estimated 70 percent of the nation’s transmission lines are over 25 years old, and th…