U.S. Builds Too Few Transmission Lines
Experts warn that fragmented authority and slow approvals are leaving the nation's grid far short of what rising electricity demand requires.
Updated on Nov. 15, 2026 in Energy
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The U.S. has built about 500 miles of high-voltage transmission lines per year over the last half-decade, roughly 10% of the approximately 5,000 miles per year needed to triple the interregional grid by 2050. Energy policy experts from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California San Diego warned of a severe transmission bottleneck in a Science Policy Forum paper in Science.
Why it matters
Electricity demand is rising due to the electrification of transportation, heavy industry, and data centers, and the authors argue that fragmented political and regulatory authority gives local, state, and regional stakeholders veto rights over projects. Larger, interconnected grids can lower consumer costs and help prevent catastrophic blackouts, so the gap affects the nation's economy and electric reliability.
The analysis compares the roughly 500 miles of high-voltage lines built per year against the approximately 5,000 miles per year needed by 2050, which places current progress near 10% of the target. The paper does not address how much of the gap could be closed by advanced technologies such as line reconductoring or VSC-HVDC.
The players
Carnegie Mellon University
A private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whose energy policy experts contributed to the paper.
University of California San Diego
A public research university in La Jolla, California, whose energy policy experts co-authored the paper.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The independent U.S. federal agency that regulates interstate transmission of electricity, which the paper urges to designate national-interest corridors.
Department of Energy
The U.S. federal agency responsible for national energy policy and infrastructure, which the paper urges to use its existing powers over transmission corridors.
The details
The authors recommend that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy use existing statutory powers to designate national-interest transmission corridors. They also point to advanced technologies, including line reconductoring and VSC-HVDC, that can double or triple transmission capacity, and to buried HVDC lines that could follow existing highway and railroad rights-of-way.
Timeline
Over the last half-decade, the U.S. built about 500 miles of high-voltage transmission lines annually.
By 2050, the target is to triple the interregional grid, which would require about 5,000 miles of transmission per year.
The Big Picture
The paper argues that the problem lies in the fragmented authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state regulators rather than in technology, and it notes that the U.S. lags behind international peers in deploying long-distance HVDC lines. It frames the current patchwork as a system that muddling through will not fix.
Households and businesses could face higher electricity costs and greater blackout risk if the grid is not expanded in time, since the authors argue that large interconnected grids lower consumer costs and prevent catastrophic outages. The technologies described, such as line reconductoring and buried HVDC, point to ways utilities might add capacity along existing rights-of-way.
The takeaway
The core obstacle is not a shortage of technology but a system in which many stakeholders can block a line, so reform of approval authority is the central lever for keeping the grid reliable as demand grows.
Further reading
Explore more on Energy coverage for the wider context of grid planning and electricity demand across the country.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Eurasia Review.
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