DOE Awards $1.9B for 31 Advanced Transmission Projects — SkimNews
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- DOE plans to offer $1.9 billion to 31 grid-improvement projects expected to add 23 GW of transmission capacity, with sponsors set to reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies across nearly 21,000 miles
- Project sponsors will contribute about $3.4 billion, bringing total infrastructure spending to $5.3 billion across the SPARK-funded portfolio
- SPARK — formally the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and Other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades program — draws its authority from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, per DOE
- Catherine Jereza, DOE Office of Electricity Assistant Secretary, said the selected projects will maximize existing rights-of-way to avoid "expensive greenfield construction" and reduce consumer electricity costs
- Utilities selected for funding include Alabama Power, Duke Energy Carolinas, Eversource Energy, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, and PPL Electric, according to DOE's project summary
- Two interregional projects aim to strengthen links between the Eastern and Western interconnections: the Colorado Energy Office's $1.2 billion effort spanning Colorado, Texas, and neighboring regions, and Oklahoma's $832 million "Three Corners Connection" linking the Southwest Power Pool to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council
- Project selections grew out of a mid-March DOE solicitation focused on grid resilience, smart grid, and grid innovation programs
Why it matters: By prioritizing reconductoring and grid-enhancing technologies on 21,000 miles of existing lines over decades-long greenfield builds, DOE is betting that utilities can unlock 23 GW of capacity faster and cheaper — and the two Eastern-Western interregional projects target a long-standing bottleneck in cross-grid power transfers.
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