OPPORTUNITY REPORT:

$1.9 Billion Available for Grid Infrastructure and Innovation

March 13, 2026 | DOE Releases Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) Funding Opportunity

KEY INFORMATION

Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0003580

Agency: Department of Energy, Office of Electricity

Total Program Funding: $1,900,000,000

Cost Share: 25%-50%

Release Date: March 12, 2026

Concept Paper Due Date: April 2, 2026

Full Application Due Date: May 20, 2026

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity announced $1.9 billion in total funding through the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) program to accelerate upgrades to the nation’s power grid. The program is looking for projects that will help lower electricity costs by expanding transfer capability, relieving congestion, and improving the efficiency and reliability of the grid.

Goals for the SPARK program include:

Address existing constraints on the system.
Improve performance of existing infrastructure.
Access dispatchable resources needed to reliably serve forecasted power demand.

Projects must combine physical upgrades with advanced transmission technologies (ATTs) and show quantified gains in capacity, reliability, and consumer affordability. Projects should transform existing infrastructure into higher performing, more resilient, and more economically efficient systems. The DOE is prioritizing projects that can be implemented quickly.

The types of projects the Office of Electricity is prioritizing include:

Reconductoring with advanced conductors to increase the power-carrying capability of existing transmission corridors.
Advanced Transmission Technologies that can increase the usable capacity of existing assets in real time to reduce congestion charges.
Large-scale, cross-regional transmission upgrades and coordinated planning to further lower electricity costs by opening pathways for power to flow between regions.

DOE will prioritize projects that can be implemented quickly to deliver durable physical upgrades and dynamic operational gains that together increase the value, performance, security, resilience, affordability, and reliability of the nation’s electric grid.

TOPIC AREAS

Topic Area 1: Grid Resilience

Total Available Funding: $427,000,000

Award Range: $10,000,000 - $100,000,000

Cost Share: 50% (25% for small utilities)

Number of Awards: 5 - 10

Grid Resilience projects must expand the transfer capability of existing transmission or sub-transmission, improve system flexibility, and reduce the likelihood and consequences of disruptive events.

Approaches of Interest (must focus on one or both):

Reconductor existing transmission lines using conventional or advanced conductors to achieve at least a 50% increase in transfer capability.
Use of dynamic line rating, modular power flow control, flexible transformers, topology optimization, and software-controlled power flow devices to optimize the grid, increase operational efficiency, and improve resilience without new rights-of-way.
Projects that use advanced technologies or reconductoring to identify, minimize, or mitigate the risk of specific hazards (i.e wildfires or hurricanes), which includes but is not limited to projects that include reconductoring and ATTs that improve overall reliability and resilience.

Eligible Activities

Replace, add, or modify terminal equipment, bus work, circuit breakers, and transformers needed to accommodate higher current, voltage, or thermal limits.
Modernize protection and control systems to maintain coordination and system stability under new operating conditions.
Integrate communication and control infrastructure that enables real-time operation of ATTs and advanced monitoring.
Install measurement and validation equipment to verify performance metrics.

Note: Standalone substation replacements or expansions not directly tied to such projects are not of interest under this Topic Area.

Requirements

Projects must be supplemental to existing or planned reliability, resilience, and hardening efforts.
Projects should not include construction of new generation or storage facilities, except where such facilities are directly integrated as control elements of ATT systems for resilience.
Provide basic technical specifications of the currently operating and proposed systems.
Demonstrate a quantifiable increase in transfer capability attributable to the proposed project.
Demonstrate a benefit to the grid, consumers, or national priorities.

Note: DOE cannot award greater than “the total amount that the applicant has spent in the previous 3 years on efforts to reduce likelihood and consequences of disruptive events” per legislation.

Eligible applicants for this topic area include:

Electric grid operators
Electricity storage operators
Electricity generators
Transmission owners or operators
Distribution providers

Topic Area 2: Smart Grid

Total Available Funding: $614,000,000

Award Range: $10,000,000 - $50,000,000

Cost Share: 50%

Number of Awards: 25 - 40

The Smart Grid Topic Area supports projects focused on deploying advanced grid technologies. These projects are intended to strengthen grid reliability and resilience through reconductoring and deploying other Advanced Transmission Technologies.

Approaches of Interest

Advanced Transmission Technologies
- DLR and real-time thermal rating systems, such as ambient adjusted line ratings.
- Topology optimization and advanced power flow control technologies that dynamically reroute power.
- Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) or modular flow controllers.
- Digital substation automation to integrate and control ATTs across multiple assets.
Reconductoring as a Smart Grid Enabler
- Replace existing conductors with advanced conductors compatible with other ATTs.
- Integrate optical ground wire or embedded sensors to enable data collection for grid monitoring.
- Perform targeted reconductoring that unlocks the full potential of ATT deployments and allows digital controls to operate at scale.
- Upgrade associated protection, communication, or substation equipment required to realize the benefits of digital operations and automated power flow control.

Communications and Cybersecurity Integration
- Projects should incorporate or use advanced communication systems, optical fiber, secure wireless or equivalent to enable real-time operation of the Smart Grid. Cybersecurity measures consistent with DOE and NIST Smart Grid Frameworks, as well as North American Electric Reliability Corporation Reliability Standards, are required.

Note: Standalone reconductoring projects that do not include smart grid integration are not of interest under this Topic Area.

Requirements

Provide basic technical specifications of the currently operating and proposed systems.
Demonstrate a quantifiable increase in transfer capability attributable to the proposed project.
Demonstrate a benefit to the grid, consumers, or national priorities.

Eligible applicants for this topic area include:

Institutions of higher education
For-profit organizations
Non-profit organizations
State and local government entities
Indian tribes

Topic Area 3: Grid Innovation Program

Total Available Funding: $862,000,000

Award Range: $100,000,000 - $250,000,000

Cost Share: 50%

Number of Awards: 3 - 8

This Grid Innovation topic prioritizes large-scale, multi-jurisdictional demonstrations aimed at expanding transfer capability between transmission-planning regions. Applications that offer novel technical, planning, or organizational approaches that are replicable and can be scaled to support the efficient integration of new large loads will take priority.

Approaches of Interest

Transmission Expansion and Upgrades
- Upgrade transmission lines and associated facilities to achieve at least a 50% increase in transfer capability, with an emphasis on supporting power delivery to new large loads and expanding transfer capability between planning regions.
Advanced Transmission Technologies
- Dynamic line rating, advanced power flow control, and digital automation to optimize real-time transfer capability and manage operational complexities.
Cross-Regional Coordination and Planning
- Develop shared modeling, cost allocation mechanisms, and streamlined permitting frameworks across RTO/ISO boundaries to facilitate efficient planning, operation, and reconductoring of transmission infrastructure.

Requirements

Provide a cross-regional capacity and reliability assessment demonstrating modeled improvements.
Provide basic technical specifications of the currently operating and proposed systems
Demonstrate a quantifiable increase in transfer capability attributable to the proposed project.

Eligible applicants for this topic area include:

States
A combination of two or more states
Indian tribes
Units of local government
Public utility commissions

Note: Required partnerships among states, tribes, utilities, Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), and regional planners are essential.