Learn more about where the grid—and American communities—would benefit from increased transmission.
November 6, 2023
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Learn more about where the grid—and American communities—would benefit from increased transmission.
On October 30, 2023, the Grid Deployment Office released the National Transmission Needs Study, which provides insight into where the grid—and American communities—would benefit from increased transmission by assessing current and anticipated future capacity constraints and congestion on the Nation’s electric grid. Serving as DOE’s triennial state of the grid report, the Needs Study is a robust assessment of current and near-term future transmission needs through 2040. The study is not intended to displace existing transmission planning processes and is not intended to identify specific transmission solutions to address identified needs, but it does identify key national needs that can inform investments and planning decisions.
Key findings of the Needs Study include the following:
- There is a pressing need for additional electric transmission infrastructure in nearly all regions of the country to improve reliability and resilience, address high energy costs, and reduce congestion and constraints.
- Increasing interregional transmission — that is, the ability to move power across regions of the country —is needed to move electricity from where it is available to where it is needed, and results in the largest benefits to customers in reducing congestion and constraints.
- Needs will shift over time as the clean energy transition, evolving regional demand, and increasingly extreme weather events must all be accommodated by the future power grid.
A public webinar reviewing the findings of the Needs Study in more detail was held on November 8, 2023, from 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. ET.