The US electric grid is a key enabler of energy transition. It has to expand rapidly to meet the increasing power demand, ensure resilience and reliability in view of growing intermittent grid-connected renewable energy and enable lowest cost electricity generation. The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Transmission Needs (NTP) study (2023) estimates a median need for 57 per cent growth in transmission infrastructure by 2035 compared to the existing system. In in April 2024, the White House announced a goal to upgrade 100,000 miles (16,093.4 km) of transmission lines over the next five years. While the need for more transmission capacity is established, progress on the ground has been slow to pick up pace.
Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) and Grid Strategies recently released a report titled “Fewer New Miles: The US Transmission Grid in the 2020s”, which details the alarming slowdown in the construction of high-voltage transmission lines across the country. The report reveals a contrast between transmission spending and the dwindling expansion of new infrastructure, posing significant challenges to the nation’s energy future.
It highlighted that construction of new high-voltage transmission in the US has slowed to a trickle over the past decade, with only 55 new miles (88.5 km) built in 2023. This is in contrast to the projected load growth that doubled in the last year, which requires expansion in transmission capacity. The US had only built 20 per cent as much new transmission in the 2020s as it did a decade ago in the first half of the 2010s. This trend began over a decade ago, when the average of 1,700 miles (2,736 km) of new high-voltage transmission miles per year from 2010 to 2014 dropped to only 925 miles (1,489 km) from 2015 to 2019, and has fallen further to an average of 350 miles (563 km) per year from 2020 to 2023.
However, despite this decline in new construction, annual transmission spend has hit an all-time high. It increased from USD10 billion in 2010 to USD20 billion in 2013, and has continued to rise to over USD25 billion in 2023. This trend in increased spending is projected to grow. Edison Electric Institute estimates that investor-owned utilities will spend approximately USD92 billion on transmission construction over the next three years between 2024 and 2026. This is an average of over USD30 billion every year.
The report highlights that a significant increase in federal funding and utility investment in new greenfield high-capacity projects are still needed to accelerate transmission expansion, and ensure a reliable and affordable transition to a cleaner grid.
The full report can be accessed here.
