New Federal Funding Will Support Advanced Transmission Technologies
Washington, D.C., March 12, 2026 – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the
$1.9 billion Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced
Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) funding opportunity, which will support faster
adoption of Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and High Performance Conductors
(HPCs).
“The SPARK program’s focus on Advanced Transmission Technologies will address the
urgent challenges of energy affordability and load growth,” said Julia Selker, Executive
Director of the WATT Coalition. “American utilities have demonstrated that ATTs could
unlock gigawatts of grid capacity and save billions in electricity costs if scaled across the
country. This funding will help utilities scale up their ambitions and timelines for
transmission grid modernization.”
“Advanced Transmission Technologies are the best way to meaningfully increase grid
capacity in the next two years,” said Zach Zimmerman, Executive Director of the AMP
Coalition. “New, large-scale, high-capacity transmission is also needed to meet long-term
load growth, but HPCs are a fast and affordable way to double capacity without new rights
of way. HPCs and GETs deliver capacity quickly to keep pace in the AI race.”
See examples of American utilities leading on Advanced Transmission Technologies:
Learn more about the WATT Coalition at https://watt-transmission.org.
Learn more about the AMP Coalition at https://www.ampcoalition.org.
