According to the US Energy Information administration, investments in new electricity transmission infrastructures in the United States increased five-fold from 1997 to 2012 and even doubled between 2007 and 2012, reversing a three decade decline: investments rose from US$2.7bn in 1997 to US$14.1bn in 2012. US power utilities sought to improve the power grid reliability, especially after the August 2003 blackout that affected 50 million people and shut down 62 GW of power load; a 2005 legislation directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop incentive-based rate treatments for interstate transmission. The strong growth of renewable power generation, mainly wind (from 4 TWh in wind generation in 1999 to 141 TWh in 2012) also contributed to investments in new electricity transmission lines, as well as a "relocation" in population requiring grid strengthening in the South and West. Electricity wholesale and retail market restructuring since 1998 led regional transmission organizations to upgrade and build more transmission infrastructure. Finally, the increase in raw material such as steel and cement in 2004-2007 coupled with a weakening dollar, led to an inflation in transmission construction costs.
Source: US EIA
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