DOE draft study calls for major transmission expansion as data centers and industry raise power demand

The Energy Department released a draft national study July 9 identifying major transmission needs as data centers, domestic manufacturing and industrial electrification increase electricity demand across the United States.

The draft 2026 National Transmission Needs Study says additional transmission is needed for data-center load, manufacturing, industrial electrification, new generation interconnection, new load interconnection and congestion relief. DOE opened a 60-day public-comment period, with comments due Sept. 7, 2026.

The document is an assessment of transmission needs, not a final federal transmission plan. It does not order specific projects, authorize construction or provide funding. Its findings are intended to inform regional and interregional planning as grid operators respond to changing patterns of electricity demand and generation.

Demand is rising in several parts of the grid

DOE’s study covers the U.S. transmission system and identifies needs across MISO, the Southwest Power Pool, PJM Interconnection, ERCOT, NYISO, NorthernGrid, WestConnect and ISO-New England.

The report identifies NYISO, NorthernGrid South and MISO as areas with high potential for within-region transmission that could reduce congestion costs. Congestion is concentrated in roughly 5% of hours, according to the study, but those periods can create significant challenges for moving electricity through constrained parts of the system.

The draft also says interregional links can improve reliability and resilience while increasing the grid’s ability to meet demand growth. Those links can connect separate regional systems, although the study itself does not approve any particular project.

DOE says MISO, SPP, PJM and ERCOT have recently approved some of their largest transmission portfolios. MISO approved its largest-ever U.S. transmission portfolio in 2024, according to the department.

Large-load connections are already a federal focus

The study follows a separate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission action announced June 18. FERC ordered all six regional grid operators to justify or reform tariffs governing interconnections for large users, including data centers, manufacturing facilities and other energy-intensive customers.

FERC said faster interconnection must be accompanied by consumer protections and clear cost allocation. The commission’s action reflects a central issue raised by rapid load growth: connecting new facilities can require changes to the grid, and regulators must determine how those costs and risks are assigned.

The Associated Press reported that the FERC vote had national implications for energy-hungry artificial-intelligence data centers and raised questions about effects on ratepayers. The DOE study similarly treats data-center demand, industrial expansion and electrification as transmission-planning issues rather than isolated facility decisions.

What happens next

DOE is accepting public comments through Sept. 7, 2026. The department also plans summer 2026 roundtables with communities, tribes, states and regional reliability entities before preparing a final study.

Those steps could add feedback from the people and institutions affected by proposed transmission development, but the packet does not identify a final list of projects, a construction schedule or projected changes to consumer bills.

For now, the draft establishes the federal government’s assessment of where transmission expansion may be needed as electricity demand changes. Any specific projects, funding decisions, tariff changes or consumer-cost effects would require later actions outside the study itself.