By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched a $1.9 billion program to spur electricity infrastructure investments aimed at upgrading the existing grid to meet growing electricity demand and resource adequacy requirements.
The program – Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades or SPARK – is focused on adding “grid enhancing” technologies.
“For too long, important grid modernization and energy addition efforts were not prioritized,” DOE Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “We are doing the important work of modernizing our grid so electricity costs will be lowered for American families and businesses.”
The DOE said that upgrading existing transmission with new advance transmission technologies can expand the system and at the same time limit costs compared to adding new transmission infrastructure.
“At a time when we need the power grid to do more, investing in advanced transmission technologies is the fastest, quickest approach,” Dylan Reed, managing director at clean-energy advocacy group Advanced Energy United and a former DOE adviser, said in a statement.
Reconductoring replaces existing transmission lines with the most advanced conductors and can increase line capacity by 25% to 100%, depending on conductor type and system limitations, according to a report by the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG).
“In many cases, reconductoring offers the lowest-cost and fastest option to address capacity shortfalls, especially where permitting, siting, or outage constraints preclude full rebuilds,” the ESIG report said.
In Texas, American Electric Power upgraded two 120-mile 345-kV lines, increasing capacity by 40% without needing new rights-of-way.
Reconductoring is, however, just one of several grid enhancing or advance transmission technologies that can be added to bolster the grid.
“These tools—including dynamic line rating, advanced conductors, advanced power flow control, and transmission topology optimization—can unlock underutilized capacity, reroute flows around congestion, and improve the efficiency and adaptability of existing infrastructure,” the ESIG report said.
“Many can be installed and operational in a matter of months, often without new rights-of-way, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional upgrades,” according to the report.
Allentown, Pa.-based PPL Electric Utilities achieved a 15% increase in line rating using dynamic line rating – which calculates a line’s capacity based on local factors such as temperature rather than having a single fixed rating.
PPL saw $64 million transmission congestion cost saving from the great line efficiency, according to the ESIG report.
The DOE funding program will focus on three areas: grid resilience projects by grid operators and utilities, smart grid research and grid innovation programs by states and public regulators to facilitate large loads, such as data centers.
Proposals are due by May 20, 2026.
The nation’s electric grids are under increasing pressure. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts electricity demand to grow 1% in 2026 and 3% in 2027 – marking the first time since 2007 that demand will have increased in four consecutive years.
“The driving factor behind this surge is increasing demand from large computing centers,” the EIA said.
Data centers are projected to triple their share of U.S. electricity consumption within the next decade, rising to 12% from 4% – equivalent to 130 GW of new demand.
Meanwhile, more than 2,600 GW of generation and storage projects – more than double the total installed capacity of the U.S. grid – are waiting in interconnection queues, unable to connect due to transmission limitations.
In 2022, grid congestion costs in the U.S. were already estimated at more than $20 billion, straining operations and reducing system efficiency.
Advocates say that in the face of these pressures, advanced transmission technologies are a key tool.
“Advanced Transmission Technologies are the best way to meaningfully increase grid capacity in the next two years,” said Zach Zimmerman, executive director of the AMP Coalition, which represents manufactures of high-performance conductors (HPCs).
“New, large-scale, high-capacity transmission is also needed to meet long-term load growth, but HPCs are a fast and affordable way to double capacity without new rights-of-way,” Zimmerman said.
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