DOE Awards $1.9B to Boost Grid Transmission Capacity — SkimNews
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- U.S. Department of Energy will offer $1.9 billion through its SPARK program to fund 31 grid-improvement projects expected to add 23 GW of transmission capacity, enabled by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- Project sponsors will reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies across nearly 21,000 miles, with sponsors contributing roughly $3.4 billion to bring total spending to $5.3 billion.
- DOE Assistant Secretary Catherine Jereza said the selected SPARK projects will 'unlock more than 20 GW of additional grid capacity' by maximizing existing rights-of-way rather than building new corridors that 'can take decades.'
- Utilities selected for funding include Alabama Power, Duke Energy Carolinas, Eversource Energy, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, and PPL Electric, per a DOE project summary.
- The Colorado Energy Office is sponsoring a $1.2 billion project to expand interregional transfer capability across Colorado, Texas, and neighboring regions, while Oklahoma's Office of Management and Enterprise Services leads the $832 million 'Three Corners Connection' linking the Southwest Power Pool to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council.
- At least two projects are designed to bolster transmission links between the Eastern and Western interconnections, which currently have limited capacity to exchange electricity.
- DOE framed the approach as eliminating congestion bottlenecks and avoiding expensive greenfield construction to lower operating costs and reduce consumer electricity bills.
Why it matters: Ratepayers stand to benefit if DOE's bet pays off: the department claims reconductoring existing lines and adding grid-enhancing tech will cut congestion and lower operating costs — translating to smaller electricity bills — while sidestepping decade-long permitting for new corridors. Sponsors like Duke, Eversource, and Alabama Power now have federal backing to deploy capacity-boosting tech across tens of thousands of miles.
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