The fastest way to move more electricity may be to restring the wires already up. The U.S. Department of Energy announced $1.9 billion on September 24 for 31 projects in 26 states that do exactly that.
A new transmission corridor can take a decade or more to permit and build. Reconductoring, which replaces old lines with conductors that carry more current on the same towers, takes far less. The department says the projects together add more than 23 gigawatts of capacity.
How the money splits
The federal share is $1.9 billion. Utilities and other project owners add about $3.35 billion, for a total of $5.25 billion. The plan covers more than 1,500 miles of lines that will be reconductored or rebuilt, plus sensors and control systems on nearly 21,000 miles more. Those grid-enhancing technologies let operators run lines closer to their real limits.
The program is called SPARK. The department says the upgrades will benefit about 100 million people and lower power bills, though it did not say by how much.
The data center pull
Demand is the reason for the rush. The Register ties the announcement to AI data centers, which in many regions now wait years for a grid connection.
"These investments will get more out of the infrastructure we already have," said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The first choice is to use the towers that already stand.
