A new working paper from the World Resources Institute (WRI) offers an encouraging look at the growing role Advanced Transmission Technologies (ATTs) are playing in U.S. energy policy. US State Legislation on Advanced Transmission Technologies, authored by Alex Smith, Ian Goldsmith, and Kelly Lefler, examines how states are responding to one of the most pressing challenges facing the electric power industry: increasing transmission capacity quickly enough to support growing electricity demand while maintaining affordability and reliability.
CTC Global appreciates WRI and the authors for bringing greater visibility to this important issue. For utilities and their customers, the report reinforces a message that has become increasingly clear: building new transmission infrastructure remains essential, but we also need to make substantially better use of the infrastructure and rights-of-way already in service.
A Rapidly Growing State-Level Movement
The scale and pace of legislative activity documented by WRI is significant. As of July 31, 2026, 23 states had passed legislation supporting the evaluation or deployment of Advanced Transmission Technologies. Only two states passed such legislation in 2023, followed by six in 2024 and thirteen in 2025.
The reason for this increasing attention is understandable. WRI notes that U.S. transmission capacity may need to increase by 57 percent between 2023 and 2035 to meet expected electricity demand. At the same time, new transmission projects are often costly, difficult to permit and slow to construct.
Advanced Transmission Technologies provide another set of tools.
WRI identifies four technologies that commonly fall within the ATT category: dynamic line ratings (DLR), advanced power flow controls (APFC), topology optimization software, and advanced conductors. While these technologies address different transmission challenges, they share an important objective – helping utilities obtain greater capability and value from existing transmission infrastructure.
WRI also makes an important distinction: these technologies do not eliminate the need for new transmission. Rather, they can complement conventional expansion while providing capacity on much shorter timelines. The report cites ATT deployment periods ranging from a few months to approximately three years, compared with five to fifteen years for new transmission development.
For utilities facing rapidly growing loads, that difference can be extremely important.
Advanced Conductors Are Becoming a Mainstream Grid Solution
Of particular interest to CTC Global and its utility and industrial customers is the increasingly prominent role advanced conductors play in the report.
WRI describes advanced conductors as technologies capable of delivering more power per unit weight than conventional conductors and specifically discusses carbon-fiber and composite-core designs. Importantly, the report connects conductor performance not simply with operating temperature, but with the combination of higher temperature tolerance, reduced sag and increased conductivity.
That broader performance perspective matters.
An overhead conductor is ultimately part of an electrical and mechanical system. Increasing its theoretical temperature rating alone does not necessarily maximize useful transmission capacity. Electrical resistance, thermal expansion, sag, strength, weight, conductivity, durability and efficiency all influence the performance and economics of a transmission line.
State policymakers increasingly appear to recognize this distinction.
WRI reports that state legislation commonly defines advanced conductors using measurable performance characteristics. A number of states use electrical resistance at least 10 percent below that of a comparable conventional conductor as a benchmark. Other states incorporate capacity improvement or broader performance criteria. Connecticut legislation, for example, recognizes current-carrying capacity, thermal performance, weight, sag, durability, corrosion resistance and efficiency, as well as high-conductivity materials and trapezoidal conductor designs. Colorado’s HB 1081 specifies at least 15 percent lower resistance and 60 percent greater energy-carrying capacity relative to ACSR at 20°C.
For CTC Global, this emphasis on measurable performance is particularly welcome. It moves the discussion beyond labels such as “HTLS” and toward the characteristics that determine how much useful power a transmission line can actually deliver.
California Provides an Important Example
WRI’s assessment of California’s implementation of SB 1006 is especially noteworthy.
California’s legislation requires transmission utilities to study the feasibility of deploying GETs – including DLR, topology optimization and advanced power flow controls – and to identify transmission lines that may be suitable for reconductoring with advanced conductors. Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric subsequently performed studies using CAISO transmission planning assumptions and reliability assessments.
The results are interesting.
According to WRI, topology optimization and advanced power flow control solutions were generally screened out in the studies because of factors such as radial system configurations, limited parallel paths or redundancy with existing remedial action schemes. In contrast, all three utilities identified more promising opportunities for DLR on selected congested corridors and for reconductoring using advanced conductors. WRI concludes that the three reports consistently found DLR and advanced conductors to have greater practical applicability within California’s transmission systems than the other GET options evaluated.
This does not suggest that one technology is appropriate everywhere. In fact, it reinforces the opposite conclusion.
Transmission solutions should be selected based upon the specific engineering requirements of the system.
That is precisely why rigorous evaluation is so important.
From “Consider” to Meaningfully Evaluate
One of WRI’s most important observations concerns the difference between requiring utilities to “consider” Advanced Transmission Technologies and establishing a framework that ensures they are meaningfully evaluated.
Many state laws require consideration of ATTs without establishing detailed criteria for what that consideration should include. WRI notes that this leaves considerable room for interpretation and creates challenges for regulators trying to determine whether the intent of the legislation has actually been satisfied.
The report therefore recommends a more rigorous approach.
ATT studies should examine transmission topology, existing and anticipated congestion, load growth, generation additions, local weather conditions and line ratings. They should also quantify the net benefits of appropriate technologies and compare those results with conventional transmission expansion while accounting for both timing and congestion relief.
This is an important evolution for utilities and technology providers alike.
The objective should not be to require deployment of a particular technology. It should be to ensure that potentially valuable solutions receive a technically sound and economically meaningful evaluation.
When that analysis is performed properly, utilities and regulators can make better-informed decisions – and customers ultimately benefit.
Large Loads Make Time Increasingly Valuable
The WRI paper also makes an important connection between Advanced Transmission Technologies and rapidly growing large loads.
Data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities and other large electricity consumers frequently seek substantial amounts of capacity on timelines that are difficult to reconcile with traditional transmission development. WRI observes that large-load interconnection studies may therefore be particularly appropriate places to evaluate ATTs because the magnitude and location of the load are more clearly defined than they often are in long-term planning scenarios.
Of particular interest to CTC Global, WRI specifically cites Google’s collaboration with CTC Global to explore opportunities to expand grid capacity through advanced conductor deployment. The authors recommend that states explore policies and rate structures that encourage utilities to consider ATTs when integrating large loads.
This is where advanced reconductoring can offer a particularly compelling option.
Where existing structures and rights-of-way are suitable, replacing a conventional conductor with a higher-capacity advanced conductor can substantially increase the usefulness of an existing transmission corridor without requiring an entirely new route. Depending on project requirements, this approach can also help utilities address clearance constraints, congestion and efficiency while accelerating the delivery of additional capacity.
For customers waiting to connect new facilities – and for existing customers concerned about the cost of serving rapidly growing demand – the value of time should not be underestimated.
Turning Policy Momentum into Projects
Perhaps the most encouraging conclusion from WRI’s work is that the conversation surrounding Advanced Transmission Technologies has changed considerably.
Advanced conductors and other ATTs are no longer confined to pilot projects and technical conferences. They are increasingly appearing in state legislation, regulatory proceedings, transmission planning requirements, federal initiatives and utility studies.
The next challenge is converting that recognition into appropriate deployment.
CTC Global has spent more than two decades working with utilities, engineering organizations, conductor manufacturers, hardware suppliers, installation contractors and other industry partners to advance composite-core conductor technology and support successful transmission projects around the world. That experience has consistently reinforced an important principle: advanced technology creates value when it solves an actual system problem.
Not every transmission constraint requires reconductoring. Not every line is a candidate for DLR. Not every network benefits equally from power flow controls or topology optimization. And new transmission corridors will unquestionably continue to be required.
But every major transmission investment should begin with a complete understanding of the available options.
That is why WRI’s work is important.
The paper documents remarkable policy momentum – 23 states and growing – but it also asks the more consequential question: are we evaluating these technologies rigorously enough to turn legislative intent into meaningful improvements to the grid?
CTC Global thanks World Resources Institute and authors Alex Smith, Ian Goldsmith, and Kelly Lefler for contributing valuable research to this discussion and for highlighting the important work underway across the United States.
The technologies exist. The experience is growing. The policy framework is beginning to catch up.
The opportunity now is to put those tools to work where they can deliver the greatest benefit for utilities, their customers, and the electric grid.
https://www.wri.org/research/us-state-legislation-advanced-transmission-technologies
