DOE Deploys $1.9 Billion SPARK Program to Upgrade US Transmission Grid Through Reconductoring Instead of New Construction
The US Department of Energy has opened a $1.9 billion funding round under its SPARK program to accelerate grid modernization by replacing aging transmission wires with advanced conductors, a strategy that can double line capacity at half the cost of building new infrastructure.
Overview
The US Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity on March 12 opened applications for approximately $1.9 billion in grid infrastructure funding under a new program called SPARK (Speed to Power Through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades). The initiative, drawn from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, represents the third and latest round of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program, which has made $10.5 billion available over five years for transmission upgrades. SPARK prioritizes reconductoring — swapping aging transmission wires for advanced composite-core conductors that can carry substantially more power through existing corridors — over the slower, costlier process of building entirely new power lines.
The announcement arrives as The Machine Herald has previously reported on parallel legislative efforts: the bipartisan REWIRE Act introduced on March 11 would streamline permitting for reconductoring projects. SPARK now puts federal dollars behind the same strategy.
What We Know
SPARK distributes its funding across three topic areas: up to $862 million for Grid Innovation to support large-scale, multi-jurisdictional transmission upgrades; up to $614 million for Smart Grid projects enabling real-time monitoring, control, and optimization of grid assets; and up to $427 million for Grid Resilience through reconductoring and advanced transmission technologies. Concept papers are due April 2, 2026, with full applications due May 20 and selections anticipated in August.
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright stated that “for too long, important grid modernization and energy addition efforts were not prioritized by past leaders,” while Assistant Secretary for Electricity Katie Jereza said the United States “must increase grid capacity to meet demand, and ensure the grid provides reliable power — day-in and day-out.” Projects require a minimum 50 percent cost share from applicants, reduced to 25 percent for small utilities applying under the Grid Resilience category. Maximum project duration is 48 months.
The scientific case for prioritizing reconductoring over new construction has strengthened considerably. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and GridLab found that replacing conventional aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) cables with advanced composite-core conductors can double the power transfer capacity of existing lines within their current rights of way. The same study concluded that large-scale reconductoring could meet over 80 percent of the new interzonal transmission capacity needed to reach 90 percent clean electricity by 2035, saving an estimated $180 billion in system costs by 2050 compared to relying solely on new line construction.
Reconductoring projects can typically be completed in 18 to 36 months, three to five times faster than most new transmission builds, largely because they use existing tower structures and corridors, avoiding the decade-long permitting and land acquisition battles that have created a massive interconnection queue backlog. A reconductored line is also 50 to 75 percent cheaper per unit of added capacity than a comparable new line.
What We Don’t Know
SPARK’s eventual impact depends on how many utilities and grid operators apply, and how quickly funded projects move from selection to construction. DOE has not disclosed how it will prioritize among competing applications or whether specific regions facing the most acute demand growth — such as Texas, which alone accounts for more than half of the 24.3 GW of battery storage capacity planned for 2026 — will receive weighted consideration.
While the PNAS study models substantial capacity gains from reconductoring, the analysis assumes broad adoption across the nation’s roughly 160,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. Whether utilities that own those lines, many of which are investor-owned and driven by rate-of-return incentives that historically favor new capital construction, will embrace reconductoring over greenfield builds remains an open question. The REWIRE Act’s legislative fate in Congress could also shape how rapidly permitting barriers fall.
The 50 percent cost-share requirement may also limit participation from smaller, cash-constrained utilities and cooperatives, even with the reduced 25 percent threshold. Whether SPARK funding alone is sufficient to catalyze a meaningful shift in how the US builds transmission capacity, or whether it serves primarily as a demonstration-scale program, will not be clear until selections are announced in August.
Looking Ahead
SPARK represents the federal government’s largest targeted investment in reconductoring to date, arriving at a moment when US electricity demand is growing at its fastest pace since the 1960s, driven by AI data centers, vehicle electrification, and manufacturing reshoring. The program operates in parallel with the REWIRE Act on the legislative side, and alongside record deployments of grid-scale battery storage that are reshaping how utilities manage intermittent renewable generation. If the UC Berkeley research holds at scale, the strategy of upgrading existing wires rather than building new corridors could fundamentally alter the economics and timeline of grid expansion — a shift that would matter enormously as the nation attempts to add tens of gigawatts of new generating capacity each year while its transmission infrastructure, roughly 70 percent of which was built between the 1950s and 1970s, approaches the end of its design life.