FirstEnergy Unit Joins DOE-Funded $20.2 Million Pennsylvania Grid Pilot

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE ) said on October 28, 2026 that Keystone Appalachian Transmission Company (KATCo), a subsidiary of its FirstEnergy Transmission business, has been selected to participate in a grid modernization project led by EPRI and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, including an approximately $20.2 million technology pilot on an existing transmission line in western Pennsylvania.

The project, called Advanced Transmission Technologies for Reliable and Efficient Energy Supply, is led by EPRI, an independent, non-profit energy research and development organization. FirstEnergy described ATREES as an estimated $20.8 million initiative that will evaluate technologies intended to improve reliability, increase transmission capacity and help meet growing energy needs in Pennsylvania and across the country.

A selected applications document published by the Department of Energy for funding opportunity DE-FOA-0003580 lists the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, as the prime applicant for ATREES under application 3580-1612, with $20,852,041 in federal funds requested and a total project value of $41,704,082. The document’s project narrative states that ATREES proposes deploying Advanced Transmission Technologies within the FirstEnergy and Salt River Project transmission systems to maximize existing transmission infrastructure, increase system ratings, and enhance reliability and energy deliverability. The department notes that the summarized project details are derived from application materials and are subject to change pending finalization of formal financial assistance agreements.

“Customers count on us to provide reliable electric service at a reasonable cost, and that’s what makes this project so important,” said John Hawkins, President of FirstEnergy Pennsylvania, in the company’s announcement. “By evaluating technologies that help us get more from the transmission infrastructure already serving our communities, we’re exploring ways to strengthen reliability and meet rising energy demands for many years.”

Western Pennsylvania Pilot

As part of the project, KATCo plans to install advanced equipment on an existing transmission line between Butler and Karns City in western Pennsylvania. The pilot will evaluate Dynamic Line Ratings, which use sensors and real-time data to provide a more accurate picture of how transmission lines are performing, and Advanced Power Flow Controllers, which direct power toward less-congested transmission paths. FirstEnergy said the technologies could help reduce congestion on the grid and improve how electricity is delivered across the region while keeping costs as low as possible for customers.

The Butler County area was selected because certain operating conditions in northern Pennsylvania can create higher power flows on transmission lines locally, according to the company, which said the site will allow an evaluation of how the technologies perform under real-world conditions and whether they could be applied elsewhere on the transmission system. The stated goal is to better understand how existing infrastructure can meet future energy needs before additional upgrades or new lines are required. FirstEnergy listed potential benefits including enhanced service reliability for thousands of homes and businesses, additional capacity to support economic development and growing energy demand, and insights that could guide future investment in Pennsylvania’s electric grid.

The pilot represents an approximately $20.2 million investment, with funding shared by KATCo and the Department of Energy. Work is expected to begin in early 2027 and continue over multiple years as participating organizations evaluate the technologies’ performance and potential applications across the electric grid.

Federal SPARK Program

The selection was made through the Department of Energy’s Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades initiative. The department’s Office of Electricity announced on September 24, 2026 its intention to help fund 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states under SPARK. The selected projects total $5.25 billion, comprising $1.9 billion in federal funding and $3.35 billion in recipient cost-share, and are intended to improve grid reliability and lower electricity costs for approximately 100 million Americans. The department said recipients are expected to reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles of transmission lines and deploy Grid-Enhancing Technologies across nearly 21,000 miles, together making more than 23 gigawatts of additional electricity capacity available. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said the investments reinforce a commitment to policies that lower electricity prices and strengthen the grid, and OE Assistant Secretary Catherine Jereza said the selected projects put advanced transmission technologies to work modernizing critical infrastructure and maximizing the capacity of existing lines.

SPARK is funded through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program, which was authorized under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide up to $10.5 billion in competitive funding over five years. According to the department’s SPARK program page, the notice of funding opportunity was issued on February 25, 2026, with an application deadline of May 5, 2026; selections were announced in September 2026, and awards are expected between October 2026 and January 2027. The Office of Electricity launched the Speed to Power initiative on September 18, 2025 and issued a Request for Information in fall 2025 to gather industry input that informed the funding opportunity’s design.

FirstEnergy said KATCo’s initiative is one of several FirstEnergy transmission projects selected for Department of Energy funding, with similar pilot projects in Ohio and West Virginia expected to begin next year. In Ohio, according to a company account, FirstEnergy Transmission company American Transmission Systems, Inc. is participating in a $137 million statewide initiative led by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio; the company’s portion is an approximately $28 million investment shared with the Department of Energy on existing transmission lines primarily in Ashtabula, Lake and Cuyahoga counties, with work expected to begin in early 2027.

“Strong partnerships are essential to building the grid of the future,” said Mark Mroczynski, President of Transmission for FirstEnergy. “We’re grateful for the federal funding and collaboration that make projects like this possible.”

FirstEnergy Transmission is jointly owned by FirstEnergy Corp. and Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners and owns and operates American Transmission Systems Inc., Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission LLC and Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company. FirstEnergy’s electric distribution companies serve more than six million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York, and its transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines connecting the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.