The gap between US electricity demand and grid capacity is widening. A new bipartisan bill takes a practical step toward closing it.
US electricity demand is projected to rise 5.7% by 2030, the fastest increase since the 1960s. Meeting it requires nearly 5,000 miles of new high-capacity transmission per year. In 2024, the US completed 322 miles. The challenge is not only physical construction. It is the time, cost, and complexity required to permit and approve new transmission corridors. Large transmission projects can take a decade or more to move from planning to energization. Grid Enhancing Technologies offer a faster path: meaningful capacity gains on existing infrastructure, without the permitting burden of building from scratch.
The bipartisan REWIRE Act, introduced March 2 by Senators Welch (D-VT) and McCormick (R-PA), takes the right starting point: before building new corridors, get more out of the ones already in the ground. The bill creates a NEPA categorical exclusion for Grid Enhancing Technologies deployed within existing rights-of-way, directs FERC to improve returns on equity for advanced transmission upgrades, and establishes a national clearinghouse of GETs deployments.
What sets this bill apart is its specificity. Previous policy discussions around GETs have tended toward the general. This one names the friction points directly: permitting timelines, inadequate financial incentives, and the absence of a shared knowledge base that procurement teams can point to when making the internal case for adoption. The clearinghouse provision in particular addresses something the industry has needed for years. Utilities and transmission owners are more likely to move quickly on proven technology when they can reference documented deployments across comparable systems and regulatory environments.
From where we sit, the FERC ROE provision may be the most consequential. The investment case for GETs is already strong on technical merit, but regulatory economics shape how utilities and transmission owners prioritize capital. Improving the return on equity for advanced transmission upgrades makes the build-versus-optimize decision easier to bring to a board. That changes the conversation at the procurement stage in a meaningful way.
Smart Wires has been working through these exact dynamics with customers across the US for years. With 40+ installations across 4 continents, we have seen firsthand how permitting timelines, regulatory economics, and the absence of shared deployment knowledge slow down projects that are technically straightforward. The REWIRE Act addresses the constraints we see most consistently in the US market.
VELCO, one of the named supporters of the REWIRE Act, has received full regulatory approval to install 12 SmartValve modules at their Sand Bar Station in Milton, Vermont. The DOE GRIP-funded project, developed in partnership with EPRI, is a strong example of what the REWIRE Act is designed to scale: a utility identifying a grid reliability problem, selecting a proven GETs solution, securing federal co-funding, and navigating state regulatory approval. Construction begins Spring 2026, expected to be in service in 2027.
"Using the infrastructure we already have, bringing down costs, and stopping years of unnecessary permitting delays."
Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA), on the REWIRE Act
The REWIRE Act will not close the transmission gap on its own. But it addresses the right constraints: permitting, incentives, and knowledge infrastructure. For utilities and transmission owners who have been watching GETs deployments mature globally and waiting for the US regulatory environment to catch up, this bill moves things in the right direction.
