Entergy is deploying advanced transmission technology across Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi to increase the capacity of existing transmission lines and improve grid operations without immediately requiring new transmission infrastructure.

Supported by a $13.7 million U.S. Department of Energy award, the project will deploy dynamic line rating (DLR) technology and other grid improvements across 1,125 miles of existing transmission lines. The effort aims to increase power capacity, reduce congestion and support growing electricity demand across the region. Although DLR has been used for decades, technological advances have made the approach more practical to deploy at scale.

Katie Jereza, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, joined Entergy leaders in Mississippi for a project tour and press conference.

“DLR is not a new concept, but the installation method and how we go about deploying this is the new piece of it that finally makes it something that people can see the benefit and actually get behind,” said Tim Sansing, senior engineer for technology development and analytics.

The system uses small sensors attached directly to transmission lines to collect real-time information about operating conditions, including temperature, wind speed, solar radiation, conductor temperature and line sag.

“DLR gives us real-time insight into how much electricity a line can safely carry under actual weather conditions, helping us move more energy across the grid using existing infrastructure,” Sansing said.

DLR can be compared to highway speed limits, which establish safe operating standards but do not necessarily reflect changing conditions. Similarly, the technology provides transmission operators with real-time information about line conditions, helping them determine how much capacity may be available while maintaining safety and reliability.

The project uses autonomous drones to install the sensors. Equipped with LiDAR technology, the drones identify transmission conductors and install sensors in less than two minutes. This method eliminates the need for bucket trucks, planned outages or extensive manual installation work.

The installation approach is intended to support deployment of more than 600 sensors across more than 1,100 miles of transmission lines, including in rural areas and locations that are difficult to access.

The technology will also provide additional visibility into portions of the transmission system where less real-time operating information has historically been available. Future applications could include wildfire detection and integration with other devices, such as cameras.

The project comes as electricity demand increases across the region, including from industrial development, manufacturing and data centers. Increasing the capacity of existing transmission lines could help defer some future transmission investments, which can take years to plan and construct, while giving operators more information to manage changing grid conditions.

“We’re doing everything we can to keep the cost down for customers and be able to get the most that we can out of what we have today, rather than having to rely on new builds,” Sansing said.

The project also includes targeted substation and terminal upgrades to address equipment limitations that could otherwise restrict the amount of electricity the system can carry.

The initiative is intended to increase the use of existing transmission infrastructure, improve grid operations and help accommodate regional electricity demand.