The Era of “Spend More, Earn More” Is Over
For decades, the utility industry operated under an unspoken assumption: spending more capital was not only acceptable, it was beneficial. Larger transmission projects meant larger rate base, stable earnings, and predictable regulatory recovery. New lines, new corridors, heavier structures - all were part of a familiar, well-understood playbook.
That era is ending.
Today’s transmission challenge is not a lack of ambition or investment appetite. It is a collision between unprecedented need and unprecedented constraint. Load growth driven by electrification, data centers, and industrial reshoring is accelerating faster than transmission approvals. Wildfire risk is transforming safety expectations. Public opposition and environmental scrutiny are slowing greenfield development to a crawl. Regulators and policymakers are demanding affordability, resilience, and visible results - not theoretical long-range plans.
In this environment, the old logic of “bigger projects equal better economics” no longer holds. Utilities are discovering - sometimes painfully - that capital deployed slowly, controversially, or imprudently destroys value, regardless of the allowed rate of return.
This is why a growing number of utilities are reevaluating not just what they build, but how they expand capacity. And it is why advanced reconductoring solutions, particularly ACCC® Conductor technology, are moving from the engineering toolbox into the boardroom.
Rate Base Doesn’t Earn a Return Until It’s in Service
This is the first uncomfortable truth boards now confront.
A dollar does not earn a return when it is proposed, permitted, or even spent. It earns a return only after the asset is placed into service - and only if regulators deem the investment prudent.
Greenfield transmission projects increasingly take 8–12 years to reach energization, if they make it at all. During that time, utilities accumulate development costs, face re-routing, re-scoping, litigation, and - in some cases - outright cancellation. The risk of disallowance or partial recovery grows the longer a project remains exposed to controversy.
By contrast, reconductoring existing lines using high-performance Advanced Conductors like CTC Global’s ACCC® Conductor:
avoids new corridors entirely
dramatically shortens permitting timelines
limits environmental review scope
reaches service years earlier
Even when the total capital cost is lower, the net present value can be higher, because returns begin sooner and with far less downside risk.
Boards are increasingly recognizing a simple reality:
A smaller project that goes into service quickly is worth more than a larger project stuck in regulatory limbo.
Regulators Are No Longer Rewarding Inefficiency
The second assumption under strain is that “spending more” is automatically in shareholders’ interest.
Commissions today are explicitly focused on:
affordability
wildfire mitigation
use of existing infrastructure
least-cost, best-fit solutions
Utilities are increasingly required to demonstrate that they have fully evaluated reconductoring, uprating, and non-wires alternatives before pursuing large new builds. When a utility knowingly selects a more expensive, more disruptive option that delivers no incremental system benefit, regulators have shown a growing willingness to push back.
This shift matters.
Choosing a solution like ACCC® Conductor allows utilities to credibly demonstrate:
capital discipline
prudent decision-making
alignment with policy goals
respect for ratepayer impact
That credibility directly affects future rate cases. Utilities that build trust earn flexibility. Utilities that overreach invite scrutiny - and scrutiny is expensive.
Wildfire Risk Has Changed the Economics of Transmission
In wildfire-prone regions, infrastructure decisions are no longer judged solely on engineering or economics. They are judged on risk exposure.
High temperatures, peak loading, and sag-related clearance violations are now understood to be ignition pathways. Conventional steel-core conductors - particularly those relying on steel to carry load at elevated temperatures - exacerbate these risks through thermal expansion, creep, and long-term degradation.
ACCC® Conductor changes the risk profile fundamentally. Its carbon composite core has near-zero thermal expansion, which means sag remains tightly controlled even during extreme heat and emergency loading events. Clearances are preserved when conditions are most dangerous.
From a board perspective, this matters more than incremental rate-base growth. One catastrophic wildfire can erase years of earnings, damage credit ratings, and permanently alter regulatory relationships. Reducing the probability of such an event is not a technical upgrade - it is a fiduciary decision.
Total Installed Cost Is What Actually Hits Customers
Utilities do not build conductors. They execute projects.
When evaluated on a total installed basis, ACCC® Conductor often reduces overall project cost, even if its material cost is higher than ACSR or ACSS. The savings come from avoided structure replacement, avoided foundation upgrades, shorter construction schedules, and reduced outage windows.
For boards under pressure to deliver more infrastructure without ballooning customer bills, this matters. Lower total project cost means:
more capacity delivered per dollar
less rate pressure
fewer political and regulatory headwinds
In an era where affordability is front-and-center, capital efficiency is no longer optional.
Environmental Impact Is Now a Schedule Risk
Environmental considerations used to live downstream of engineering. Today, they sit directly on the critical path.
Greenfield transmission corridors face intense scrutiny over land use, habitat impact, visual intrusion, and environmental justice concerns. Even well-justified projects can be delayed for years.
Reconductoring with ACCC® Conductor minimizes these issues by keeping infrastructure where it already exists. Ground disturbance is limited. Visual change is negligible. Stakeholder resistance is dramatically reduced.
For boards and executives, this translates into schedule certainty - a form of value that does not show up on balance sheets but determines whether strategic plans succeed or fail.
Proven Experience Beats Promising Alternatives
The advanced conductor market is crowded with “HTLS” claims, hybrid designs, and composite-core imitators. Many promise impressive laboratory results. Far fewer offer decades of real-world operating data.
ACCC® Conductor stands apart because it is not an experiment. It has been deployed in more than 1,450 projects across over 70 countries, encompassing virtually every climate, terrain, and grid condition imaginable. That experience matters.
It means:
design assumptions have been validated in service
construction practices are well understood
contractors and crews are familiar with the technology
supply chains are mature and reliable
For risk-averse institutions charged with keeping the lights on, proven performance at scale is not a nice-to-have - it is the price of admission.
Capital Constraints Are Real - Even for Regulated Utilities
Another quiet shift is occurring: utilities do not have unlimited access to capital. Credit rating pressure, rising interest rates, and competing investment needs force hard choices.
Efficient projects that deliver capacity quickly allow utilities to do more with the same capital envelope. They free up balance sheet capacity for resilience, distribution modernization, and clean generation interconnection.
In practical terms, choosing ACCC® Conductor does not shrink investment opportunity - it multiplies it by reducing capital tied up in slow, risky projects.
The Boardroom Question Has Changed
Boards are no longer asking, “How big can we build?” They are asking:
How fast can we deliver capacity?
How defensible is this investment to regulators and the public?
How much wildfire, environmental, and execution risk are we taking on?
How quickly does this go into service?
When framed this way, the appeal of advanced reconductoring becomes obvious.
Bottom Line: The Smart Money Is on Certainty
The transmission system does not suffer from a lack of capital. It suffers from a lack of time, trust, and tolerance for risk.
ACCC® Conductor has emerged not because it is novel, but because it aligns with today’s reality: constrained permitting, heightened safety expectations, regulatory scrutiny, and urgent capacity needs. Utilities choosing ACCC Conductor are not leaving money on the table - they are choosing to earn it sooner, more safely, and with far less downside risk.
As boards and executives look ahead to the most consequential build-out in grid history, the question is no longer whether the industry can afford advanced and highly proven solutions.
The real question is whether it can afford to keep doing things the old way.