Georgia’s biggest electric utility to deploy dynamic line ratings

AES demonstrates dynamic line rating in Indiana and Ohio
Image: LineVision

LineVision, a provider of advanced line ratings, announced that it is working with Georgia Power, the largest electric utility in the state, to deploy LineVision’s dynamic line ratings (DLR) technology in an effort to increase grid capacity, flexibility, and reliability in Georgia. 

LineVision’s technology, which aims to determine the true transmission capacity of high voltage power lines based on local conditions such as ambient temperature and wind speed, will be deployed as part of investments in Georgia’s power grid under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program. The GRIP program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help reduce the costs of necessary investments for the benefit of customers, with investments intended to enhance grid flexibility and improve the resilience of the power system against extreme weather.

“We’re excited to partner with Georgia Power to unlock additional capacity on Georgia’s grid to support the state’s advanced manufacturing renaissance,” said LineVision CEO Hudson Gilmer. “LineVision’s DLR technology is an important tool in utilities’ toolbox that can be quickly deployed to increase capacity safely, bring more clean energy online, and help lower energy costs for customers. Georgia is a perfect example of how utilities can make smart, low-risk investments in the grid today that can have a huge impact on their service area’s economic growth for years to come.”

Through funding from the GRIP program, Georgia Power will deploy new grid-enhancing technologies including dynamic line rating technology and reconductoring of high voltage power lines. Improved conductor technology can be deployed on existing structures, placed in service quicker than a traditional line build, and can help maximize the amount of power that can be carried through existing transmission lines and in existing rights of way. These investments are meant to not only serve existing and new customers but also to help connect a growing amount of clean generation required to serve Georgia’s growing electricity needs.



Georgia Power has also committed to sharing data related to operational insights and best practices on DLR with peer utilities to help encourage broader adoption of DLR and other grid-enhancing technologies.

Why DLR?

Last November, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) passed a resolution highlighting how grid enhancing technologies (GETs) and high performance conductors (HPCs) save customers money and improve reliability, and encouraged Congress to appropriate more funding for programs that support their deployment.

GETs include DLR, advanced power flow control (APFC), and topology optimization (TO). These tools are intended to find capacity for new generation or new electric demand at a lower cost than traditional upgrades. DLRs determine the true, real-time capacity of power lines. APFC allows operators to move power to lines with available capacity. TO identifies the best grid reconfigurations to reroute flow around bottlenecks. Other advanced transmission technologies include HPCs, such as composite core conductors and superconductors. 

In defense of its resolution, NARUC cited several recent findings and trends in the electric industry.

In its 2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that growth rates of forecasted peak demand and energy have risen “significantly” since the 2022 assessment, projecting peak demand for electricity to increase by 9.19% over the next ten years. Additionally, according to market monitor data from annual market reports, transmission congestion costs across the seven organized markets in the U.S. have also risen significantly over the past eight years, more than doubling since 2016.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory data also shows that there are over 2,000 GW of generation and storage projects waiting to connect to the grid, with queue times more than doubling from below two years in 2008 to over five years in 2022. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Transmission Needs study also found that the U.S. will need to expand its regional transmission capacity by 20-128%, and interregional capacity by 25-412% by 2035. 

Additionally, last March, a handful of Democrats in Congress wrote a letter urging FERC to “take action to promote the deployment of GETs,” arguing the technology has “repeatedly” proven itself to improve grid reliability, capacity, and flexibility. In 2023, FERC included a requirement for grid planners to “evaluate” the use of GETs in transmission network upgrades through its interconnection ruling, Order 2023, without going as far as mandating their deployment.

Inside the U.S.’ largest grid-enhancing tech deployment

Last Spring,  LineVision announced that the largest grid-enhancing technology deployment was operational in the U.S. – LineVision partnered with National Grid to bring dynamic line ratings to four, 115kV transmission lines in congested Upstate New York. The region is home to a growing number of renewable energy projects critical to meeting the state’s ambitious climate goals but otherwise stuck waiting for interconnection. Using DLR technology allows National Grid to view and analyze real-time data, as opposed to manufacturing specs.

While National Grid embarks on $4 billion upgrade to the transmission system in New York, GETs, and more specifically DLRs, present a near-term, expeditious solution to unlock additional capacity without building, or replacing, poles and wires. DLR should be seen as a supplement to other grid modernization efforts, according to LineVision CEO Hudson Gilmer, like greenfield transmission and reconductoring.

“This is the low-hanging fruit,” Gilmer said in an interview with POWERGRID International. “This is absolutely, by far, the cheapest and the fastest way to alleviate (congestion) issues.”

Watch the full interview on YouTube

New transmission infrastructure, the most expensive option, can take a decade to deploy. Reconductoring, or replacing old cables and wires with new, productive ones, can require tower upgrades that necessitate years of engineering work and additional permitting. Dynamic line rating tech can be installed in as quickly as a few months, Gilmer said.

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