As utilities confront accelerating load growth from AI data centers, electrification, and distributed energy resources, the industry is facing a difficult reality: the traditional pace of infrastructure expansion is no longer aligned with the speed of demand growth.
That challenge was highlighted recently in coverage by E&E News/POLITICO examining how utilities and technology providers are exploring new ways to improve grid efficiency, unlock additional capacity from existing infrastructure, and support reliability without relying exclusively on long-cycle transmission and generation projects.
OATI’s Department of Energy ‘SPARK’ proposal is part of that broader industry shift.
OATI’s ‘PowerNow’ initiative focuses on how regional grid operators and transmission providers can use advanced coordination, distributed energy resource orchestration, and energy-native AI to increase operational efficiency across the existing grid — helping operators better manage growing complexity while improving utilization of infrastructure already in place. Earlier this month, OATI was encouraged by the Department of Energy to submit a formal application for the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) funding initiative to address grid constraints through advanced digital enhancements.
Since OATI already supports 95% of transmission service providers, owners, and grid operators in North America, we can cost-effectively deploy these technologies at an unprecedented scale—fast. Our aim is to unlock 10-15% in available transmission capacity without building any new physical infrastructure.
Bloomington, Minnesota, based utility software company OATI applied for a slice of that DOE funding, which the firm said is crucial for providing federal direction to the web of grid infrastructure owners and operators.
Chief Operations Officer Kevin Sarkinen said his firm’s digital products would more efficiently bring the increasingly diverse array of energy sources onto the grid in real-time and maximize their response to weather conditions to increase electricity capacity.“