US selects 31 grid upgrade projects with $1.9 billion in federal money
The projects target the data center power bottleneck, but only three name AI explicitly and none are signed yet; awards finalize by January.
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On September 24 the US Department of Energy selected 31 transmission upgrade projects, with $1.9 billion in federal grants against a combined project value of $5.25 billion; utilities, state agencies and companies cover the remaining $3.35 billion.
The department says the work will rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission line, add grid-enhancing technologies to nearly 21,000 more, and free up over 23 GW of capacity. This is the third round of the GRIP program funded by the 2021 infrastructure law, focused on reconductoring rather than new power plants. These are selections, not signed awards: DOE expects to finalize them between October 2026 and January 2027 and can redirect or discontinue funding at go/no-go checkpoints.
The gap matters for AI readers: DOE's own announcement never mentions AI or data centers, and only three of the 31 project summaries name them outright, roughly $371 million or 7% of the total. But about half the value sits in state-led projects under a category built around "new large loads," so data centers are an indirect rather than direct beneficiary.