This bill summary was last updated January 23, 2025.
Grid Enhancement Technologies (GETs) are hardware or software innovations that allow the electricity transmission infrastructure to operate more efficiently, reducing both system costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Installing GETs allows the existing system of transmission lines to carry more electricity, thus decreasing the number and length of costly new lines that are needed to meet increased demand.
For example, one GET called “dynamic line rating” allows for real-time assessment of how much electricity a given line can carry. Because delivering electricity generates heat in the lines, most ratings limit transmission to amounts that are safe during the hot months. Dynamic line ratings then often permit substantially more power to be safely delivered in cooler weather.
Another GET called “advanced reconductoring” would replace some existing power lines with lines that are better able to conduct electricity. For example, the steel core at the center of most existing transmission lines could be replaced by a carbon fiber material, allowing the line to operate at higher temperatures and with less sagging. Numerous other GETs are also in development.
This bill would require Oregon electric utilities to create strategic plans to incorporate GETs into their planning. Proposals for GETs are to be integrated into utilities’ Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs), which must be approved by the Oregon Public Utility Commission. The intention is for utilities to increase both reliability and transmission capacity, while reducing transmission system congestion, wildfire risks, and curtailment of renewable electricity. The first strategic plan must be carried out by January 2030.