For years now, grid experts have been trying to get utilities to deploy advanced transmission technologies that can squeeze more capacity out of overstressed U.S. power grids. On Thursday, the Trump administration put a $1.9 billion down payment on 31 projects that will help greatly scale up these underutilized solutions.

The funding comes from the Department of Energy’s $1.9 billion SPARK grant program, created last year to repurpose money obligated by Congress in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. SPARK represents a rare example of alignment between the Trump and Biden administrations on energy policy, even as Trump appointees have blocked billions of dollars for other Biden-era grants.

But Republicans and Democrats alike want to reform energy permitting and expand and strengthen the nation’s transmission grid. In a Thursday statement, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the grants will ​“get more out of the infrastructure we already have, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and secure power that will fuel American prosperity for decades to come.”

Awardees range from projects that combine technology upgrades with multibillion-dollar grid expansions to ones involving smaller-scale technology deployments. Participating utilities have pledged a collective $3.35 billion in matching funds, bringing total investment to $5.25 billion.

Recipients include major power providers across 26 states such as American Electric Power, CenterPoint Energy , Duke Energy , Eversource Energy, Rocky Mountain Power, and PPL Electric Utilities . Awards were also issued to four public power utilities and rural electric cooperatives in Arizona, New Mexico, and North Carolina.

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