How sensors, software, and other tech could help Ohio's aging power grid
A new state law will require Ohio utilities and regulators to consider how technology might offer cost-effective options for improving the state's aging electric grid.
Ohio's grid, like those in many states, faces rising repair and maintenance costs, growing demand from data centers and other new customers, and increased risks as climate change fuels more frequent severe weather and outages. House Bill 15, signed last month by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, calls for a focus on software and hardware solutions to boost the safety, reliability, efficiency, and capacity of existing infrastructure.
Clean energy advocates are hopeful the investments will also allow the grid to accommodate more renewable energy and battery storage projects, which can suffer costs and delays related to transmission bottlenecks.
'This is a really, really great inclusion in the bill,' said Chris Tavenor, an attorney at the Ohio Environmental Council, an advocacy group.
Advanced transmission technologies that utilities must contemplate under HB 15 include things like sensors that allow lines to safely carry more electricity when conditions are favorable, a concept known as dynamic line rating. Digital controllers can remotely adjust the amount of power flowing through different parts of the grid, while topology optimization software can reroute power around congested areas, like a navigation app for electricity.
A key benefit of these technologies is that they can be used with existing infrastructure. When wires do need to be replaced, advanced conductors provide an energy-saving option. Those conductors use carbon composites or other materials to carry more electricity with less loss of that energy, compared to traditional wires of similar diameter.
A high-tech approach can create space on the grid for more renewable energy to come online. That would lessen the need to run expensive, polluting coal-fired power plants, said Rob Kelter, a senior attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a legal advocacy organization based in the Midwest.
Besides helping to mitigate climate change, less pollution would help people's health as well, Tavenor said.
Under HB 15, owners of high-voltage power lines must file annual reports showing which advanced transmission technologies they considered as part of their five-year forecasts. Those companies will also need to identify areas of the grid with congestion, and compare the cost of addressing it with traditional versus advanced technologies.
The reports will be available to the public, and interested parties may ask the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to hold a hearing on whether utilities properly reported transmission information and whether they should be able to recover costs from customers.
The Ohio Power Siting Board must also require companies to consider technology solutions before it approves any new transmission projects. Companies would have to file reports and expert testimony to support any decision to forego advanced technologies in favor of conventional projects, Kelter said.
Advocacy groups and other stakeholders 'would have a chance to similarly argue that those technologies are available and that they're cost-effective, and that they would be able to alleviate congestion and delay the need for new transmission lines,' Kelter added.
The law requires the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to study the costs and benefits of the various technologies, including how to streamline their deployment. That report will be due by March 1 next year.
Some Ohio utilities have already been exploring the potential for advanced transmission technologies. In 2023, AES installed 42 dynamic-line-rating sensors at towers along five transmission lines owned by its Ohio and Indiana utilities. The companies shared early results last year showing that installing the sensors was cheaper and faster than replacing power lines, and using the sensors increased the system's electricity-carrying capacity.
American Transmission Systems, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, is planning to spend nearly $900 million on dozens of transmission projects across Ohio in the coming years. 'We are currently reviewing House Bill 15 and exploring how its provisions around advanced transmission technologies could be integrated into our planning to strengthen the power grid for Ohio customers,' said FirstEnergy spokesperson Lauren Siburkis.
Many of the law's potential benefits hinge on how the Ohio Power Siting Board and Public Utilities Commission of Ohio implement its terms when making decisions on siting and electric rates, Tavenor noted.
The law's advanced technology provisions only apply to high-voltage parts of the grid that move electricity over long distances. It doesn't require utilities to consider high-tech approaches to improving the local distribution lines that deliver electricity to homes and businesses.
So, for example, AEP Ohio won't need to consider advanced transmission technologies in its latest rate case filed on May 30, spokesperson Laura Arenschield said. That's because AEP wants to use the 2.14% increase in base rates to pay for improvements to its local distribution system, not the AEP transmission network.
Similarly, the new law won't address grid inequities affecting disadvantaged communities in FirstEnergy's Ohio territory, which the Interstate Renewable Energy Council described in a report released earlier this year.
Even so, investments that use existing system capacity more effectively can still promote equity by reducing the need to build all-new transmission lines. Siting such infrastructure 'can be incredibly invasive and inequitable, harming both communities and ecosystems,' said report author Shay Banton, who is a regulatory program engineer and energy justice policy advocate at the Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
Building less brand-new transmission can also save consumers money. Ohioans have generally paid for transmission maintenance and upgrades through a 'rider' on their bills. For the average AEP Ohio consumer, that extra charge is roughly $40 per month. HB 15, however, aims to get rid of single-issue riders, so in the future, utilities will instead have to consider transmission costs through rate cases that consider all utility costs and expenses and are heavily scrutinized by regulators. That could also lead to lower costs or at least smaller increases.
'Ohio utility consumers already are burdened by billions in utility transmission projects,' said Maureen Willis, who represents the interests of Ohio's utility customers in her role as the state's consumers' counsel. 'By adopting advanced transmission technology, these costs can be reduced, staving off unnecessary 'gold-plating' by utilities, giving consumers more bang for the buck. We strongly advocate for this approach to transmission spending.'
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