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March 24, 2026
The U.S. energy sector is at a crossroads. About 2,500 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy projects across the country have applied for a grid connection, but remain stalled due to a lack of grid connectivity. For context, Texas, which consumes more energy than any other state, reached a record-high peak-time electricity demand of 85 GW in 2024. The nation’s energy needs are skyrocketing—the electric vehicle market is expected to balloon tenfold, data center loads are forecast to double by 2040, and additional demand will follow the electrification of industry—but energy infrastructure is currently insufficient to meet this growing demand.
Reconductoring offers a promising solution by replacing existing electrical transmission cables with ones featuring advanced conductors that can double the previous electrical transfer capacity along the line. By upgrading cables rather than creating new rights of way, reconductoring projects can produce similar capacity increases for less than half the price because they do not require new structures.
Fortifying the existing energy grid through reconductoring can help increase energy security and expand connectivity, with additional benefits for the environment. CTC Global claims its advanced ACCC® conductor, the most widely-deployed advanced conductor, reduces power line losses by up to 40%, which allows power plants to generate less electricity to meet demand. This has so far reduced the water consumption of thermal power plants by approximately 124 billion gallons and prevented 23 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (equivalent to the annual emissions of five million passenger vehicles). Advanced conductors such as the ACCC® conductor are also more resilient against extreme weather events, such as tornadoes or wildfires, because their cores are stronger.
Keeping up with Growing Energy Demands: Improving grid capacity will allow for more energy sources to come online, which may help lower energy bills. Grid congestion is caused when heavy grid use prevents the flow of low-cost electricity, making it necessary to use costlier electricity instead. In 2022, national transmission congestion costs reached $20.8 billion—a nearly 60% increase from 2021. Insufficient grid capacity, combined with rising energy costs associated with data centers and infrastructure investments, have contributed to increased utility bills that put a financial strain on consumers, disproportionately affecting low- to middle-income households. In the first half of 2025, utilities asked regulators for more than $29 billion in rate increases. Reconductoring could save the system $85 billion by 2035 and $180 billion by 2050, and lead to a 3-4% reduction in wholesale electricity costs by providing access to low-cost renewable energy.
Increasing Capacity for Electrification: According to state energy officials, electrification is key to decreasing energy costs and emissions. Electrification can reduce overall energy use by 22%. However, it can also increase demand on the already-strained energy grid. The United States may end up needing up to 47,300 GW-miles of additional transmission capacity by 2035 to achieve net-zero emissions. Reaching this target and accommodating energy demand will require a transmission capacity increase of 128% regionally and 412% inter-regionally by 2035—but national transmission capacity is currently growing at just 1% annually. At that rate, only 16,000 GW-miles of transmission capacity will be added by 2035. Implementing reconductoring could push that capacity by more than 60,000 GW-miles at only a 20% higher cost.
Lowering Costs Through the Clean Energy Transition: Increasing energy connectivity through reconductoring could increase access to cheaper renewable energy. To keep up with short-term energy demands, utilities often rely on fossil fuel energy, but unsubsidized renewable energy is already cheaper than fossil fuel energy in the United States, and is forecast to become even cheaper. The levelized cost of solar is expected to fall to $24/megawatt-hour (MWh) by 2035 and the cost of wind to $22/MWh. By comparison, the cost of natural gas, the cheapest thermal technology, was $40/MWh in 2023 and gas prices are expected to increase. The best locations for utility-scale renewable energy facilities tend to be far from population centers, making increasing grid capacity essential to unlock cost savings. Reconductoring could help the United States reach 90% emission-free electricity generation by 2035.
Avoiding Lengthy Permitting Reform: Reconductoring has the ability to quickly meet short-term transmission capacity needs. Building new transmission lines can take 10-15 years to complete due to funding and permitting challenges, whereas advanced conductors can be installed in 18-36 months on existing lines. Permitting reform has been the focus of numerous summits, bills, and Congressional hearings—experts consistently stress that permitting bottlenecks are among the largest obstacles facing the deployment and connection of new energy sources. Reconductoring, with shorter permitting times, can quickly increase transmission capacity until new lines can be planned, permitted, and built.
Reconductoring uses advanced conductor cables that improve the line’s power density by reducing cable sagging and increasing the amount of conductive material in the cable. Traditional cables are composed of bundles of annealed aluminum circular wires held up by a steel core. Aluminum heats up as electricity travels through it—the more electricity, the hotter the aluminum gets. Heat causes the aluminum to expand, which places additional stress on transmission towers as newly-elongated and looser cables sag. The inclusion of steel can help, since steel has much lower thermal expansion than aluminum (but steel is also heavier and less conductive, which is why there is less of it). Attaching the sagging aluminum to the less-expanded steel core helps maintain the structural integrity of the cables. This process bolsters the electrical carrying capacity of the line, as excessive thermal expansion can lead to power loss. While steel cores are more resilient than pure aluminum in this regard, they still expand considerably under high temperatures.
By contrast, advanced conductors replace the steel core with lighter, slimmer composite cores made of carbon fibers, ceramic fibers, or higher grades of steel. High-strength steel can be 33% to 50% stronger than traditional steel. CTCs' ACCC® conductor uses carbon and glass fiber that is twice as strong as steel and less susceptible to thermal expansion. This enables higher operating temperatures while reducing strain on transmission towers. With less sag, there is a lower risk of power outages and powerline-related wildfires because the lines stay in place during inclement weather events. The new cores also make advanced conductors more resistant to cyclic load fatigue and weakening, which occurs as the wires expand from heat during on-peak energy hours and then contract as they cool down.
Traditional conductors have bundles of circular wires surrounding the core, resulting in gaps between the wires. Because air is a poor conductor, these gaps hinder energy absorption and electricity distribution. Advanced conductors avoid this design flaw by using trapezoidal wires and a smaller core, which allows for more material in the same diameter cable. The increases in material and surface contact create more pathways for electricity to flow, thereby increasing the line's allowable wattage.
Almost all transmission lines in the United States are less than 50 miles long and are therefore eligible for reconductoring, making it a viable option across the nation. The longer lines (about 2% of the total) could be reconductored in segments. Compared to other short-term methods of grid expansion, reconductoring often provides the best solution when taking into account implementation time (including permitting), construction costs, operating costs, scalability, and capacity increase. Dynamic line rating and flexible alternating current transmission systems can be implemented more quickly and at a lower cost, but do not typically increase capacity by as much as reconductoring.
Reconductoring has already been put to the test in several states—and passed with flying colors. Two lines that supply most of the power in southern Texas were successfully reconductored without any disruption in service. The 240-mile transmission lines are located along the Texas Gulf Coast, making them vulnerable to salt spray corrosion and storm outages. Record-high electricity demand during a bout of extreme cold in 2011 overloaded transmission lines, triggering rolling blackouts in southern Texas that illuminated the need for infrastructure upgrades. By opting for advanced conductors, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas avoided hassles with permitting, right-of-way acquisition, and service disruption. The process doubled the line’s capacity in approximately three years (from 2012 to 2015), finishing eight months early and millions of dollars under budget.
Several other states have successfully implemented reconductoring. Nevada has already upgraded 125 miles of transmission lines, with 18 more projects in the planning phase. Southern California Edison, a utility, has installed 385 miles of advanced conductors to weatherproof its transmission corridors, with an extra 300-400 miles expected by 2030. Finally, Minnesota used reconductoring to increase transmission capacity near Minneapolis. The entire process, from approval to completion, took approximately three months.
Reconductoring has caught on abroad, as well. Belgium leads Europe in reconductoring with ongoing upgrades to its transmission backbone and plans to complete the projects by the mid-2030s. Italy and the Netherlands are combining reconductoring with current-type conversion projects to increase regional connectivity. In Asia, China and India are reconductoring lines around major metropolitan areas, while also using advanced conductors for new lines.
As it is still a relatively new technology, many utilities are hesitant to adopt advanced conductors. Policymakers can address this by incentivizing their use. At the federal level, Congress, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the Department of Energy (DOE) all play a role in advancing transmission technology upgrades.
Congress is already considering legislation that would incentivize the use of advanced conductors. The Electric Supply Chain Act (H.R.3638) passed the House in December 2025 and is now with the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This bill requires DOE to issue periodic reports on energy transmission issues and recommendations. The High-Capacity Grid Act (H.R. 6633), introduced in December 2025, would make advanced conductors the standard for new transmission projects and incentivize utilities to use the “best-available” conductors for their transmission lines. On the Senate side, the REWIRE Act (S.3947) was introduced in February 2026 and funds reconductoring projects while streamlining permitting and encouraging collaborative national research. Meanwhile, the bicameral Advancing Grid Enhancing Technologies Act (H.R.2703/S.1327), which was introduced in April 2025, would invest in grid-enhancing technologies like reconductoring to expand grid capacity.
EESI Resources on Grid Modernization
Briefing | Strategies to Lower Utility Bills Now for Households and Small Businesses
Briefing | Understanding Load Growth and Energy Affordability
Briefing | Powering the Economy: Generation Innovation, Grid Optimization, and Energy Efficiency
Briefing | Powering Up: Improving Energy Grid Reliability and Resilience to Lower Energy Bills
Support from FERC is crucial to ensuring consideration of advanced conductors in transmission planning. FERC’s Order No. 1920-B requires that regional transmission plans consider conductor efficiency in new build and upgrade projects. FERC can also create independent transmission monitors to identify opportunities to use advanced conductors. The DOE has furthered these efforts by announcing $1.9 billion in funding for reconductoring projects, which builds on previous efforts to improve grid resilience, flexibility, and capacity through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program.
State governments are well-positioned to make considerable strides on permitting reform and private utility incentives. Requiring utility commissions to develop reconductoring policies, establishing cost-effectiveness criteria for rate recovery, and creating state transmission authorities to catalyze permitting can all help with this effort. States and utilities can collaborate on and co-invest in reconductoring projects. Regionally, utilities can nurture their own investments by evaluating the higher-growth opportunities offered by reconductoring while developing industry manuals and training workers on installing advanced conductors.
The U.S. energy grid is currently inadequate to meet growing energy demands, and building new lines will take years. To reap the full benefits of investments in energy generation, transmission pathways must be upgraded quickly. Reconductoring offers a quick and effective solution to the nation’s energy grid, energy affordability, and energy emission challenges.
Author: Aastha Singh
Advancing science-based solutions for a sustainable, resilient, and equitable world
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