Duke Energy has been selected to receive $50 million in federal funding to upgrade its transmission system across parts of the Carolinas, with the money earmarked for projects touching Greenville County and Spartanburg County in South Carolina, as well as Henderson County and Polk County in North Carolina. The utility says the funding will help it boost the capacity of existing power lines while working to keep customer costs down as it builds out infrastructure for growing communities.
The award comes through the U.S. Department of Energy, which selected Duke Energy for the grant as part of what the agency calls the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades program, or SPARK, according to Greenville Journal. The program is designed to support reconductoring of transmission lines and the installation of advanced technologies that expand the capacity of the existing grid rather than requiring entirely new lines, according to Utility Dive.
Duke Energy plans to use grid-enhancing technologies and advanced transmission technologies to increase the capacity of its existing system, with the goal of delivering more power to homes and businesses across its service area. The company frames the funding as a way to strengthen grid reliability while completing infrastructure improvements in fast-growing communities across the Carolinas, the outlet reports.
How the Grant Affects What Customers Pay
Officials say the $50 million award will offset a portion of the projected costs for the advanced transmission upgrades, which in turn is expected to reduce the amount Duke Energy customers would otherwise have to cover.
Scott Batson, Duke Energy's executive vice president and chief power grid officer, tied the investment to the utility's broader reliability goals. “Strengthening the grid requires targeted investments that improve reliability and help ensure our system is ready to meet customers' evolving energy needs in a cost-effective manner,” Batson said, per the same report.
Part of a Larger Federal Push
The Duke Energy award is one piece of a much larger federal effort. The Department of Energy announced a $1.9 billion funding opportunity for transmission system upgrades in March 2026, according to Utility Dive, with the pool of money including up to $427 million for grid resilience, $614 million for smart-grid funding and $862 million for grid innovation in fiscal year 2026.
Duke Energy Carolinas is among several utilities nationwide selected for funding under the initiative, joining Alabama Power, Eversource Energy, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative and PPL Electric, according to Yahoo News. Nationally, the Department of Energy expects project sponsors to contribute roughly $3.4 billion of their own money toward the work, bringing total planned infrastructure spending to about $5.3 billion, the outlet notes.
The federal agency has said the broader slate of selected projects is expected to add 23 gigawatts of transmission capacity, reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines, and add grid-enhancing technologies across nearly 21,000 miles of lines nationwide. Officials describe the approach as a way to maximize the capacity of lines that already exist, unlocking more than 20 gigawatts of additional grid capacity without waiting years for new transmission corridors to be built.
Why Utilities Are Racing to Add Capacity
The push comes as utilities across the country ramp up grid construction to keep pace with rising electricity demand driven by data centers and other large power users, Utility Dive reports. Transmission advocates argue that upgrading existing lines can be the fastest route to add capacity to the grid while also helping address affordability concerns for ratepayers.
For now, the scope of Duke Energy's $50 million project in the Carolinas remains defined mainly by the four counties named in the announcement. Specific construction timelines, mileage totals and the exact terms of the federal award have not been detailed in the utility's announcement.
