U.S. DOE Announces $1.9 Billion Investment to Expand and Modernize the Power Grid

September 24, 2026

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced plans to provide $1.9 billion in federal funding for 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states, as part of its Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) initiative. The selected projects represent a total investment of approximately $5.25 billion, including $3.35 billion in recipient cost-sharing.

The projects are expected to reconduct or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies across nearly 21,000 miles of the U.S. power network. Together, the projects are expected to make more than 23 GW of additional electricity transmission capacity available.

A major focus of the program is reconductoring, which replaces existing conductors with higher-capacity alternatives while making use of existing transmission corridors. The program also supports advanced transmission technologies capable of monitoring and optimizing grid capacity in real time. According to DOE, combining these technologies can help address transmission bottlenecks and increase the utilization of existing infrastructure without relying entirely on new transmission corridors.

The investment comes as electricity demand continues to increase in the United States, including demand associated with large-scale digital infrastructure and data centers. The selected projects are intended to improve grid capacity, reliability and operational flexibility while accelerating upgrades to existing transmission infrastructure.

For the cable industry, the program highlights the growing importance of high-capacity conductors, transmission cables, reconductoring technologies and grid-enhancing technologies. The focus on upgrading existing transmission infrastructure also creates opportunities for advanced conductor and cable technologies that can increase power-transfer capacity without requiring entirely new transmission corridors.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, September 24, 2026.

U.S. Department of Energy — SPARK Investment Announcement