The Grid Brief – October 2026

September 2026 showed the US grid moving on three fronts at once: new firm generation, faster permitting, and more capacity from the wires we already have.

In one week the NRC issued the first US construction permit for a small modular reactor of its kind, the Senate introduced a bipartisan permitting bill, and DOE committed $1.9 billion to upgrade existing transmission lines.

The common driver is load. AI data centers, manufacturing and electrification are adding demand faster than new supply and transmission can be built. Regulators are answering with new rules on who pays for transmission, how quickly projects get reviewed, and how utilities consolidate.

For developers, utilities and large-load customers, the message is the same. The projects that move first will be the ones with credible interconnection studies, accurate models and compliance-ready designs in hand. This issue covers what changed and what it means for your next project.

Sandip R. (Sonny) Patel, P.E.
Founder and Principal Engineer, Keentel Engineering

On September 29, 2026, the NRC issued the Tennessee Valley Authority a construction permit for a 300 MWe GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at its Clinch River site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

It is the first US construction permit for this design and the second in North America, after Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington project.

What happened

• Speed of review. TVA filed its application in 2025. The NRC’s formal review began in July 2025 and finished in about 14 months, four months ahead of schedule.
• The site. Clinch River is a 1,200-acre greenfield tract next to DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Commercial operation is targeted for the early 2030s.
• A repeatable path. The permit sets a licensing template for future BWRX-300 applicants.
• A growing fleet. OPG holds a License to Construct for Darlington (April 2025) and applied for its License to Operate in March 2026. Blue Energy filed the first part of a construction permit application for a Texas project in September 2026.

Why it matters for the grid

A 300 MWe unit is small by nuclear standards, but it is firm, around-the-clock capacity that fits sites a gigawatt-scale plant cannot. That makes SMRs a candidate supply for data center campuses and for utilities replacing retiring thermal units.

Every SMR still has to connect to the grid and run safely on it. Key electrical engineering steps include:

• Interconnection and system impact studies. Load flow, short circuit, stability and contingency analysis at the point of interconnection.
• Off-site and on-site power design. Preferred power supply, switchyard configuration, and station service and auxiliary power systems.
• Protection and coordination. Generator, transformer and switchyard protection schemes, plus arc flash and coordination studies.
• Grid code and NERC compliance. Model validation, reactive capability, and the reliability standards that apply to a registered generator owner and operator.

On September 30, 2026, four senators introduced the bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. The floor vote is not expected until the lame-duck session after the November midterms.

The bill is a proposal, not law, and its details could still change. The sponsors are Republicans Shelley Moore Capito (WV), chair of Environment and Public Works, and Mike Lee (UT), chair of Energy and Natural Resources, with Democrats Martin Heinrich (NM) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI).

What the bill would do

The debate

Supporters say it cuts project timelines from decades to years. Critics, including Brad Campbell of the Conservation Law Foundation, argue it weakens environmental protections. Reporting also notes that the administration’s opposition to wind energy was a recurring obstacle in negotiations.

What large-load developers should do now

The data center cost provision follows a trend already under way at the state and ISO level, including ERCOT’s large load interconnection reforms. Whether or not the bill passes, data center developers should expect to pay for the network upgrades their load triggers.

• Know your upgrade exposure early. A pre-application load flow and short circuit screen shows which upgrades a site is likely to trigger before you commit capital.
• Compare points of interconnection. The cheapest land is not always the cheapest site once transmission costs are assigned to the load.
• Get the models right. Accurate dynamic load models reduce study rework and the risk of conservative assumptions that inflate upgrade costs.

NextEra Energy’s proposed $67 billion acquisition of Dominion Energy is now before FERC. On September 30, 2026, a group of lawmakers asked the Commission to examine it closely.

The deal at a glance

The review

FERC must find that a merger is consistent with the public interest. In a letter led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, 12 lawmakers raised concerns about market concentration, cost recovery, grid investment and control of transmission. NextEra and Dominion had not commented on the letter at the time of reporting.

The review comes as affordability is in the spotlight. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association forecasts that households will spend an average of $1,249 on electric heating this winter, up more than 30% from last year.

What to watch

Utility consolidation can change planning practices, interconnection procedures and study timelines across large service territories. Developers with projects in Florida, the Carolinas and Virginia (including PJM’s Dominion zone) should follow the FERC docket and any conditions it imposes on transmission access and planning.

On September 24, 2026, DOE selected 31 projects in 26 states for its SPARK initiative, worth $5.25 billion in total: $1.9 billion federal and $3.35 billion from recipients.

SPARK stands for Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades. It is funded through DOE’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program.

National scope

Ohio’s share: $273 million

Ohio’s award totals $273 million, and $137 million of it goes to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to modernize existing high-voltage lines with transmission utilities. The state says the upgrades can add the equivalent of 5,820 MW of capacity. PUCO Chair Jenifer French tied the need to Ohio’s growing manufacturing and large-load demand.

The engineering behind reconductoring

Reconductoring replaces existing wire with advanced conductors, such as carbon or composite core designs, that carry more current on the same structures and right-of-way. Grid-enhancing technologies like dynamic line ratings and power flow control squeeze more capacity from lines in service.

The capacity is real, but every upgrade needs engineering before it is built:

• Ampacity and thermal ratings for the new conductor under local weather conditions
• Sag, clearance and structure loading checks on existing towers
• Updated system models , with new impedances, in load flow, short circuit and stability cases
• Protection setting reviews , since higher line ratings and changed impedances affect relay reach and coordination
• Terminal equipment limits, including breakers, switches, CTs and wave traps, which often cap a line before the conductor does

For interconnection customers, reconductored lines can lower network upgrade costs in future study cycles. Developers should track which lines in their region are funded and when they enter service.

This month’s stories share one constraint: the grid has to serve much more load, sooner, without losing reliability or affordability. Each one pulls a different lever.

Policy can shorten approvals, and funding can pay for upgrades. Neither replaces the engineering that proves a project works on the system: accurate models, defensible studies and designs that meet NERC and utility requirements the first time.

Keentel Engineering provides electrical power systems and grid interconnection engineering from 4 kV to 765 kV.