The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $1.5 billion in funding for four major transmission projects to enhance the country’s electricity grid. Among these projects is the Cimarron Link, a 400-mile high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) line that will stretch from Texas County in the Oklahoma Panhandle to Tulsa. The project, supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will receive up to $306 million in government funding.
The Cimarron Link will deliver 1,900 MW of wind and solar-generated electricity to growing load centers across Oklahoma and the Southwest Power Pool. It will also connect to new and existing substations along the route to ensure efficient energy transmission. The project is expected to create more than 3,600 construction jobs and 20 permanent operations jobs, helping to enhance regional energy capacity and grid resilience.
Another project, the Aroostook Renewable Project in Maine, will see the construction of a new substation in Haynesville, which will link to the ISO-New England (ISO-NE) grid via a 111-mile transmission line. This new substation will play a critical role in delivering low-cost clean energy from northern Maine to the New England region, improving access to renewable resources.
Other funded projects include the Southern Spirit transmission line, which will connect to substations in Texas and southeastern U.S. grids, and Southline Phase 2 in New Mexico, creating new capacity and reliability for industries in the region.
DOE Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk highlighted that the modernization and expansion of substations and transmission lines are essential to meeting future energy demands, calling the nation’s transmission network “the backbone of the electricity system.”