For decades, the highest-voltage power lines in the United States were considered relics of an earlier era of ambitious infrastructure planning — overbuilt monuments to a future that never quite arrived. Now, the explosive growth of artificial intelligence data centers is changing that calculus in dramatic fashion, prompting utilities, regulators, and tech giants to dust off plans for extra-high-voltage (EHV) transmission lines capable of carrying electricity at 765,000 volts or more across hundreds of miles.
The scale of what is being contemplated is staggering. According to The Information, the AI boom has triggered what industry executives describe as “shockingly big” plans for new EHV transmission infrastructure — the kind of continent-spanning power corridors that haven’t been seriously discussed in the United States since the 1970s and 1980s. The driving force is straightforward: AI training clusters and inference workloads are consuming electricity at a pace that existing grid infrastructure simply cannot sustain.
A Power Appetite That Dwarfs Everything Before It
The numbers behind AI’s energy consumption tell a compelling story. A single modern AI data center campus can require between 1 and 5 gigawatts of power — roughly the output of one to five nuclear power plants. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta have all announced plans to build data center complexes at this scale, and in many cases, they want them operational within the next three to five years. The problem is that the grid in most parts of the country was never designed to deliver that much power to a single location, and the lower-voltage transmission lines that form the backbone of America’s electrical system are already running near capacity in many regions.
Extra-high-voltage lines operating at 765 kilovolts can carry roughly five to six times as much power as the 345-kilovolt lines that are more common across the Eastern Interconnection. They also lose less energy over long distances, making them ideal for connecting remote generation sources — whether wind farms in the Great Plains, solar installations in the Southwest, or new nuclear plants — to the data center clusters springing up in Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and other states. As The Information reported, the renewed interest in 765-kV lines represents a fundamental rethinking of how electricity will be moved across the country in the AI age.
Why the Grid Hasn’t Kept Pace
America’s transmission grid has been chronically underbuilt for decades. According to data from the Department of Energy, the country added roughly 1% of new transmission capacity per year over the past two decades — far below the rate of growth in electricity demand, which is now accelerating after years of stagnation. The reasons for this underinvestment are well documented: permitting timelines that can stretch to a decade or more, fierce local opposition to new power lines, and a fragmented regulatory system in which multiple states, utilities, and grid operators must agree before a major line can be built.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has taken steps to address the bottleneck. In May 2024, FERC issued Order 1920, which requires regional transmission organizations to engage in long-term planning and consider anticipated future needs — including the surge in demand from data centers — when evaluating new transmission projects. The rule was widely seen as a watershed moment for grid planning, though industry observers note that implementation will take years and legal challenges are likely. Meanwhile, the interconnection queue — the line of power projects waiting to connect to the grid — has ballooned to more than 2,600 gigawatts nationally, with average wait times exceeding four years.
Tech Giants Step Into the Transmission Business
Faced with these constraints, some of the largest technology companies are no longer content to simply buy electricity on the open market. They are increasingly involving themselves directly in transmission planning and, in some cases, financing. Microsoft, for instance, has signed agreements to support the development of new transmission capacity in key markets. Amazon Web Services has explored purchasing data center sites with direct connections to power plants, bypassing the broader grid entirely. Meta has publicly discussed the need for massive new transmission corridors to support its AI ambitions.
The involvement of deep-pocketed tech firms is changing the economics of transmission development. Historically, the cost of new high-voltage lines — which can run $3 million to $6 million per mile for 765-kV construction — has been allocated across ratepayers, creating political friction. But when a single corporate customer is willing to anchor a project with long-term power purchase commitments, the financial equation shifts. Several proposed EHV projects now under discussion reportedly have significant backing from technology companies, though the details of these arrangements remain closely held.
The 765-kV Revival: Lessons From American Electric Power
The United States does have some experience with 765-kV transmission. American Electric Power (AEP) built an extensive network of 765-kV lines across the Midwest and Appalachian regions in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily to move power from large coal plants to population centers. That system remains in operation today and is widely regarded as one of the most efficient segments of the American grid. But after the initial wave of construction, enthusiasm waned. No new 765-kV lines were built in the U.S. for roughly three decades, as electricity demand growth slowed and the political appetite for large infrastructure projects diminished.
Now, utilities in the PJM Interconnection — the regional grid operator covering 13 states and the District of Columbia, and the epicenter of America’s data center boom — are revisiting 765-kV plans with renewed urgency. PJM has seen data center interconnection requests surge to unprecedented levels, particularly in Northern Virginia, which already hosts the largest concentration of data centers in the world. The grid operator has warned that without significant new transmission investment, reliability could be compromised as load growth outstrips available supply.
Permitting Reform: The Make-or-Break Variable
Even with financing in hand and engineering plans on the table, the biggest obstacle to new EHV transmission remains permitting. Building a 765-kV line across multiple states requires approvals from federal agencies, state public utility commissions, local zoning boards, and often the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Forest Service if the route crosses federal land. Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act can add years to project timelines. Eminent domain disputes with landowners are common and politically charged.
Congress has shown some interest in streamlining the process. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 included provisions aimed at accelerating environmental reviews for energy projects, and bipartisan discussions about further permitting reform continue on Capitol Hill. Senator Joe Manchin and Senator John Barrasso, among others, have pushed for legislation that would set firm deadlines for federal permitting decisions and give FERC backstop siting authority for transmission lines deemed to be in the national interest. But progress has been slow, and the political dynamics around energy infrastructure remain contentious.
International Comparisons Highlight the U.S. Gap
The contrast with other countries is stark. China has built an extensive network of ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission lines operating at 800 kV DC and 1,000 kV AC, spanning thousands of miles to connect remote hydropower and renewable energy sources in the west to industrial centers on the coast. Brazil, India, and several European nations have also invested heavily in high-voltage transmission in recent years. The United States, by contrast, has largely relied on incremental upgrades to its existing grid, a strategy that many experts now say is inadequate for the demands of the AI era.
Grid analysts point out that the cost of inaction is rising. Every month of delay in building new transmission capacity means data center developers must either wait, build their own on-site generation (often using natural gas), or locate in regions where grid capacity is available — frequently overseas. Some AI companies have already begun exploring data center sites in the Nordic countries, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, drawn by cheaper and more abundant power. If the United States cannot build the transmission infrastructure to support domestic AI growth, it risks losing its lead in a technology sector that is increasingly seen as central to national security and economic competitiveness.
What Comes Next for the Grid and the AI Industry
The coming years will test whether the United States can muster the political will, regulatory coordination, and private capital necessary to build transmission infrastructure at a scale not seen in half a century. The stakes extend well beyond the technology sector. New EHV transmission lines would also facilitate the integration of renewable energy, improve grid resilience against extreme weather, and reduce electricity costs by enabling more efficient power markets.
For now, the plans remain largely on paper. But the convergence of AI-driven demand, corporate financing, and shifting regulatory attitudes has created a window of opportunity that industry leaders say is unlike anything they have seen in their careers. Whether that window stays open long enough for shovels to hit the ground will depend on decisions being made right now in boardrooms, statehouses, and the halls of Congress. The 765,000-volt future is technically feasible. The question is whether America’s institutions can move fast enough to build it.
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