Preface
In May 2025, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) published its Summer Reliability Assessment, highlighting critical challenges facing the North American grid this summer and beyond. Rising peak demand, a shifting generation mix, and growing weather-related threats are converging to push the grid toward its limits. For engineers, planners, and decision-makers in the transmission sector, this is a pivotal moment to act. One of the most pragmatic and powerful tools available? Advanced Reconductoring.
A February 2024 study by the Energy Institute at Haas, University of California, Berkeley, makes a strong case for large-scale reconductoring with composite-core conductors. Their findings show that this approach can double transmission capacity using existing infrastructure – quickly, cost-effectively, and without the political and logistical delays that come with new rights-of-way.
The Grid’s Current Reality
According to the NERC assessment, demand across the U.S. is rising rapidly – up by more than 10 GW in just the past year – while over 7.4 GW of firm generation capacity has retired. Although solar and battery additions have grown, many regions still face capacity shortfalls under extreme weather scenarios. Areas like MISO, ERCOT, and several Western Interconnection subregions are flagged as high or elevated risk zones for summer reserve margin shortfalls.
The risk isn’t theoretical. ERCOT continues to face emergency conditions during evening hours when solar drops off and demand remains high. MISO is experiencing lower dispatchable capacity and increasing solar and wind variability. Other areas with aging infrastructure face reliability vulnerabilities during heatwaves or wildfire seasons.
Reconductoring: A High-Impact, Fast, Low-Disruption Solution
Building new transmission lines is a slow and costly process that often takes over a decade. Reconductoring, however, can deliver transformational benefits in months. By replacing legacy steel-core conductors like ACSR with advanced composite-core conductors such as CTC Global’s ACCC® Conductor, utilities can:
- Double line ampacity without increasing conductor size or modifying tower structures
- Reduce line losses, increase efficiency, and improve voltage stability
- Operate at higher temperatures while maintaining or reducing thermal sag
- Integrate fiber optics to improve reliability and reduce wildfire risks
The UC Berkeley study confirms that reconductoring not only accelerates capacity upgrades but does so at a fraction of the cost of rebuilding or new line construction.
A Direct Response to NERC’s Risk Factors
Advanced Reconductoring addresses multiple risk vectors identified in NERC’s 2025 report:
- Reserve Margin Shortfalls: In MISO and ERCOT, reconductoring can enhance interzonal transfers, reducing the chance of emergency alerts.
- Aging Infrastructure: As fossil generation retires and legacy conductors degrade, reconductoring provides a timely, efficient path to modernization.
- Congestion and Curtailment: Higher line capacity enables better integration of renewables and storage, lowering the risk of curtailment and energy price spikes.
- Wildfire Risk: Composite-core conductors reduce sag and can reduce risk in fire-prone areas.
Quantified Benefits: What the Data Shows
Using the DOE’s ReEDS model, the Berkeley Haas team found that:
- Reconductoring can meet over 80% of new interzonal transmission needs through 2035 – even under constraints on new builds
- It can save $180 billion in total system costs by 2050, largely by avoiding unnecessary gas capacity additions
- It lowers wholesale energy prices by up to 4%, thanks to improved renewable integration and reduced congestion
In many scenarios, reconductoring outperformed greenfield expansion not only in cost but in timeline, making it a cornerstone strategy for both reliability and decarbonization.
Moving from Option to Imperative
The case is clear. Transmission planners and engineers should:
- Evaluate reconductoring in all transmission expansion studies, alongside new build options
- Collaborate with vendors like CTC Global to understand feasibility and implementation timelines for key corridors
- Support policies that recognize reconductoring’s value, including eligibility for grants, incentives, and inclusion in FERC’s long-term transmission planning reforms
States such as Montana have already enacted legislation supporting Advanced Conductor deployment. Federal entities like DOE’s Grid Deployment Office and the FERC should follow suit by prioritizing reconductoring in programs and modeling.
Act Now, or Risk Falling Behind
The grid challenges facing North America are real – and growing. But the technology, data, and experience to address them already exist. Advanced Reconductoring enables utilities to dramatically increase transmission capacity without the burden of new infrastructure development.
Transmission engineers, planners, and policymakers must recognize this as the clear next step in grid modernization. The cost of inaction – measured in outages, economic losses, and missed decarbonization targets – is simply too high.
Give some thought to the economic fallout of widespread outages and the social consequences of persistent grid instability – then the case for acting decisively becomes not just compelling, but undeniable.
