The US Department of Energy has announced $5.25 billion in funding — $1.9 billion from federal sources and $3.35 billion in cost-share — to support 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states. The initiative, part of DOE's Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) program, is expected to unlock an additional 23 gigawatts of grid capacity, according to The Register.
Rather than adding new power generation, the projects will reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies — including sensors, power flow control devices, and analytical tools — across roughly 21,000 miles of grid infrastructure. Participants in disaster-prone areas will also work to improve grid resilience and mitigate wildfire risks.
"These investments will get more out of the infrastructure we already have, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and secure power that will fuel American prosperity for decades to come," US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. The agency says the program should help improve reliability and lower electricity costs for roughly 100 million Americans.
While the funding should help ease power constraints facing data center operators amid the AI boom, The Register notes it may not be enough. The outlet points to a recent Moody's warning that the pace of data center construction is outrunning the US grid's ability to add capacity, with Moody's estimating that US data center electricity consumption will reach 426 TWh by 2030 — nearly double the 2025 figure.
That gap has already spurred investment in alternative power sources such as small modular reactors, geothermal generation, and the recommissioning of aging nuclear plants, alongside efforts by chipmakers to design data centers that can release capacity back to the grid when needed.