July 12, 2026 | Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity — Draft 2026 National Transmission Needs Study
DOE's Draft 2026 Transmission Needs Study Lands: $11B in Congestion Costs and a Grid Built by Incumbents
This week, DOE's Office of Electricity released the draft 2026 National Transmission Needs Study for consultation and public comment. It's the Department's triennial state-of-the-grid report, required under section 216(a)(1) of the Federal Power Act.
The numbers are worth your time. Between 2016 and 2024, the U.S. energized roughly 85,000 circuit-miles of new, upgraded, or rebuilt transmission above 69 kV. About 40% of it was reliability-driven — and incumbent utilities built 98% of it.
On congestion: DOE pegs 2023 congestion costs at $11 billion, down from a $21 billion peak in 2022. The majority of those costs concentrate in just 5% of hours. Cross-interconnection links out of ERCOT show average LMP differentials of $31–$48/MWh — the highest-value seams in the country.
What This Means in the Control Room and the Planning Department
This study is the analytical foundation for future National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) designations. If your service territory sits in one of the 20 regions flagged for reliability, congestion, or transfer-capacity needs, this document is now part of your regulatory landscape.
The study confirms what planners are already living: load growth is the dominant driver of future transmission need, and the big portfolios reflect it — MISO's $21.8 billion Tranche 2.1 with a 765 kV backbone, SPP's $7.7 billion ITP portfolio, and Texas's first-ever 765 kV projects in the Permian Basin at $33 billion.
Practical move for this week: pull the regional summary for your footprint, compare it against your own planning assumptions, and note where DOE's congestion and transfer-capacity findings diverge from your internal studies. It's a public draft — comment while the window is open.
EPG Solutions Can Help
Knowing where your system stands against 20 regions' worth of reliability, congestion, and investment data is exactly the kind of question a proprietary benchmark intelligence report answers — how your utility's transmission position, cost exposure, and compliance posture compare to your peers before regulators and stakeholders start asking. Visit EPG Solutions → epgsolutions.services