Transmission infrastructure investment reaches record high

A recent report by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) found that transmission investment by EEI members reached a new spending record of $20.1 billion.

Investor-owned electric companies are making these investments in order to meet the challenges of changing energy needs brought about by factors such as increasing integration of renewable sources of power.

“The high level of investment in our nation’s transmission infrastructure improves reliability and benefits customers by enabling electric companies to deploy new technologies, such as advanced monitoring systems, that help to make the energy grid more flexible and more resilient,” EEI Vice President of Energy Delivery Phil Moeller said.

This report was the 10th annual edition of EEI’s Transmission Projects at a Glance. The study highlights more than 150 major transmission projects completed in 2015, as well as projects that are planned for the next four years. These projects total $41 billion and account for just part of the expected transmission investment over the 4-year period.

Electric companies invest in transmission for a number of reasons, such as improvements to reliability, replacing old infrastructure, modernization, economic efficiency and changes to public policy.

“The electric power industry is making substantial investments to modernize the energy grid and to build the transmission needed to connect new clean sources of generation and reduce system congestion,” David Owens, EEI executive vice president of business operations and regulatory affairs, said.