Utilities Outline Massive Grid Investments to Meet Surging Demand at IEEE PES T&D

At this year's IEEE PES T&D Conference & Exposition in Chicago, utility executives from across the country described an electric industry racing to keep pace with unprecedented load growth driven largely by data centers, electrification and economic development.

During a panel discussion titled “Grid Investment Strategies to Meet Record Demand,” leaders from Southern Company, Dominion Energy, Xcel Energy and ComEd outlined plans for billions of dollars in transmission and grid modernization projects while emphasizing affordability, reliability and community engagement.

The session featured Cleve Fann of Southern Company, Matt Gardner of Dominion Energy, Sandra Johnson of Xcel Energy and Ahmad Ababneh of ComEd. The discussion was moderated by Mike Beehler, spokesperson for PDI2.

Cleve Fann said the scale and pace of investment underway across the Southeast is unlike anything he has experienced in his 26-year career.

“After years of cost cutting initiatives, trying to find ways to save a few dollars of O&M, to be in this growth mindset, and preparing our organization for that, has been a real, real shift,” Fann said.

Southern Company recently increased its five-year capital spending forecast from $76 billion to $81 billion, largely due to accelerating growth in Georgia. Fann said the utility has more than 10 GW of large new loads under contract, primarily tied to data centers, along with a potential pipeline totaling as much as 75 GW of customer interest.

To support that growth, the company is pursuing rapid transmission expansion, including a new 500-kV transmission line stretching more than 100 miles that Fann said could be completed “from start to finish” in roughly four years.

At the same time, executives repeatedly stressed that utilities must bring communities into the planning process earlier than ever before.

“It’s hard to find somebody who wants a transmission structure in their front yard,” Fann said. “It’s hard to find somebody who wants a substation adjacent to their business or their neighborhood. But that’s the necessity of growth like this.”

Fann said utilities can no longer simply inform communities about projects after plans are finalized. Instead, they must partner with stakeholders early to maintain trust and avoid delays.

"So we're working very hard to partner with communities rather than inform communities, help them prepare so that we can get our work done on time, and unlock all the benefits that these large-load customers are bringing to our 2.8 million customers around the state. So we have frozen rates for the next three years," Fann said. "
I'm actually talking about storm costs recovery with our public service commission next week. When you pair our storm recovery with our fuel case, we're lowering rates effective in June. I don't know too many utilities around the country lowering rates. 
And because of those contracts I mentioned, and the 10 GW of contracted load, and a potential pipeline of up to 75 gigawatts, (all of that won't get contracted) but that's the amount of customer interest in the in Georgia Power Territory right now. When we're able to get those customer served, we've already committed to downward pressure of $100 a year to our residential customers starting in 2028."

Aggressive Transmission

Xcel Energy’s Sandra Johnson described similarly aggressive infrastructure expansion plans across the Upper Midwest, Texas and Colorado. Johnson said the company currently operates 22,000 miles of transmission and 1,300 substations and expects to add another 2,000 miles of transmission and roughly 110 substations over the next several years.

“We are building a significant amount of 765,” Johnson said, referring to new 765-kV transmission infrastructure planned across multiple regions.

Johnson said the utility sees transmission as essential not only for reliability and load growth, but also for affordability as renewable generation expands.

“When I think about transmission and what we probably have ahead of us, it really does drive affordability for our customers,” she said.

Johnson also emphasized the role of advanced technologies, including dynamic line ratings, advanced conductors, static synchronous compensators and artificial intelligence tools that can improve planning and operational efficiency.

“We are fully confident that AI will bear fruit as we leverage it,” Johnson said.

Ahmad Ababneh of ComEd said utilities nationwide are confronting a historic buildout cycle. He cited estimates from the Edison Electric Institute that utilities could spend roughly $1 trillion on the grid between 2026 and 2030, with nearly 80% of those investments directed toward transmission infrastructure.

“We need five years to put 50% more on our system than we have built over the last 100 years,” Ababneh said. “Let’s think about it — in the last 100 years, it was all the grid we support today. Now we need, in five years or less, to put 50% more on the system.”

Ababneh said utilities are increasingly using AI-driven forecasting and analytics to prioritize spending, process interconnection requests faster and improve planning accuracy as load forecasts become more uncertain.

Executives also discussed the growing push toward advanced transmission technologies such as HVDC systems, advanced conductors and underground transmission to maximize existing rights-of-way and reduce community opposition.

Matt Gardner of Dominion Energy highlighted one example: a planned 185-mile, 3-GW underground HVDC transmission project designed to move offshore wind and other generation into Virginia load centers.

“A lot of that’s based off the feedback we got from the public,” Gardner said. “Knowing that, hey, listen, we’ve got to get the power into the load pockets.”

Gardner said the utility industry must do a better job communicating why large infrastructure projects are necessary and how they ultimately benefit customers through improved reliability and long-term economic growth.

“But to do that, they don’t see the work that it takes behind the scenes,” Gardner said. “They don’t see the efforts that our engineers and our operators and our construction folks are putting in behind the scenes to make that happen.”

Throughout the discussion, panelists returned repeatedly to the challenge of balancing rapid grid expansion with affordability and customer trust. Several executives noted that large-load customers such as data centers are increasingly being required to shoulder more of the infrastructure costs associated with their growth.

Utilities also stressed that investments in transmission and advanced technologies are no longer optional as demand forecasts continue climbing.

“The electric power industry is entering a period of growth and complexity unlike anything we’ve experienced before,” Gardner said