National

Transmission

NeedsStudy

October2023

UnitedStatesDepartmentofEnergy

Washington,DC20585

-1-

ExecutiveSummary

ArobusttransmissionsystemiscriticaltotheNation’seconomic,energy,andnationalsecurity.

Theelectricgridcontinuestofacechallengesthatareduetoaginginfrastructureand

insufficienttransmissioncapacity.TheU.S.DepartmentofEnergyundertakesthisNational

TransmissionNeedsStudy(NeedsStudy)pursuanttoSection216(a)(1)oftheFederalPowerAct

(FPA)1toidentifytransmissionneedsthatarecurrentlyharmingconsumersorexpectedtodo

sointhefutureandthatcouldbealleviatedbytransmissionsolutions.FindingsfromthisNeeds

StudywillinformtheDepartmentofEnergyasitcoordinatestheuseofitsauthoritiesand

fundingthatrelatetoelectrictransmission,includingimplementingthemanygridresilience

andtechnologyinvestmentprovisionsoftheInfrastructureInvestmentandJobsActandthe

InflationReductionAct.TheNeedsStudyisanassessmentofpubliclyavailabledataandmore

than120recentlypublishedreportsthatconsidercurrentandanticipatedfutureneedsgivena

rangeofelectricitydemand,publicpolicy,andmarketconditions.Allfindingsofneedsare

presentedbygeographicarea(seeFigureES-1)whereappropriate.

ThepurposeofthisstudyisnottoprescribeparticularsolutionstoissuesfacedbytheNation’s

powersector.Rather,itassessesneedinorderforindustryandthepublictosuggestthebest

possiblesolutionsforaddressingtheminatimelymanner.Asusedinthisstudy,anelectric

transmissionneedreferstotheexistenceofpresentorexpectedelectrictransmissioncapacity

constraintsorcongestioninageographicarea,consistentwithFPASection216(a)(1).

Geographicareaswhereatransmissionneedexistswo