Abstract
Electric power systems form the backbone of modern society, supporting everything from critical infrastructure to emerging electrification demands. As electricity consumption grows due to electric vehicles, renewable energy integration, and industrial expansion, the U.S. grid is approaching its operational limits. My work focuses on two closely related problems: the technical challenge of increasing substation voltage levels beyond 765 kV and the sociotechnical barriers that prevent the United States from adopting ultra-high-voltage (UHV) systems already implemented in countries like China. While the technical project evaluates engineering feasibility and system performance, the STS research examines how regulatory structures, public perception, and institutional dynamics shape what infrastructure can actually be built. Together, these projects highlight that engineering solutions alone are insufficient without alignment with broader social systems.
In my STS research, I analyze how regulatory fragmentation, community resistance, and institutional incentives constrain the adoption of UHV transmission in the United States. Federal agencies, state governments, utilities, and local communities function as key stakeholders whose competing priorities shape infrastructure decisions. Using Thomas P. Hughes’s Seamless Web framework, I demonstrate that technological advancement depends on the interaction between technical capability and social organization. My research identifies specific barriers, including multi-jurisdictional permitting processes, public concerns about environmental and health impacts, and the lack of coordinated national planning. By comparing the U.S. system with China’s centralized model, I show that political structure and governance, not just engineering capability, determine whether large-scale innovations like 1,100 kV transmission can be realized.
The technical portion of my thesis evaluates the feasibility of increasing substation voltage levels beyond 765 kV by analyzing insulation coordination, corona discharge effects, system stability, and economic constraints. I identify how higher voltages reduce transmission losses and increase power transfer capacity, but also introduce challenges such as dielectric stress, acoustic noise, and oscillatory instability in interconnected grids. My work synthesizes global case studies, particularly China’s UHV systems, to determine which engineering solutions, such as composite insulators, bundled conductors, and advanced transformer designs, could be adapted to the U.S. grid. Rather than proposing a single design, this research produces a framework for evaluating trade-offs between efficiency, cost, and reliability, enabling engineers to assess whether voltage uprating is technically and economically justified.
Together, these projects demonstrate that the future of high-voltage transmission depends on both engineering innovation and sociotechnical alignment. The technical analysis shows that UHV systems are feasible and beneficial for improving efficiency and enabling renewable energy integration, while the STS analysis reveals why these systems remain difficult to implement in the United States. Working on both components deepened my understanding that engineers must engage not only with physical systems but also with policy, public trust, and ethical responsibility. The ethical significance of this work lies in balancing national energy needs with local impacts, ensuring that infrastructure development is both equitable and sustainable. By integrating technical and sociotechnical perspectives, this research highlights a path forward where engineering solutions are designed with awareness of the societal systems in which they operate.
