DOE Unveils $1.9 Billion Electric Grid Upgrade Push

The U.S. Department of Energy is launching a $1.9 billion funding effort aimed at rapidly expanding the capacity of the nation’s power grid by upgrading existing transmission lines. This is instead of building entirely new ones. The initiative, called Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades—mercifully shortened to SPARK—will fund projects that replace existing transmission wires with higher-capacity conductors and deploy advanced grid technologies designed to squeeze…