TS Conductor Corp. plans to bring America’s electricity grid into the 21st century, saying there are 100,000 miles of high-capacity power lines needing an upgrade.
The Surf City-based company raised $60 million in a Series B financing round led by Wellington Management; it also included investments from two funds tied to billionaire Bill Gates. The funding round announced on July 31 is in addition to the $25 million Series A previously announced.
An increasing number of power outages has helped to focus attention on the power lines, many of which use technology that dates back a century. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in May announced a goal to upgrade the vast network of transmission lines within the next five years as part of the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative.
“For the size of the market, the 100,000-mile DOE target is a good figure to reference,” TS Conductor founder and Chief Executive Jason Huang told the Business Journal on Aug. 1.
North American utilities deploying TS’ technology include Montana-Dakota Utilities Company, Arizona Public Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority. TS was recently named a winner of the 2024 BloombergNEF Pioneers Award for its work in relieving bottlenecks in the deployment of clean power.
“Decarbonizing the energy sector hinges on resolving electric grid bottlenecks, and we believe TS Conductor’s technology unlocks cost-effective and fast capacity additions,” Michael DeLucia, sector lead for climate investing at Wellington Management, said in a statement.
“We are looking forward to supporting the company’s journey toward scaling advanced conductor deployment to address these critical issues.”
Boston-based Wellington is one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, managing more than $1.2 trillion in assets.
5,000 Miles
Huang has a long history in manufacturing, working for firms such as Owens Corning, Goodrich Corp. and BAE Composite Structures. He was CEO of Irvine-based CTC Global Corp., a maker of advanced conductors for overhead transmission powerlines.
In 2018, he founded TS Conductor, which says it has “a better way to deliver electricity.”
“Conductor technology hasn’t significantly changed in roughly 100 years,” the company says on its website. “That’s why TS Conductor was born — because a 21st century power grid deserves more than 20th century wires.”
The company’s Huntington Beach facility can produce 5,000 miles per year of high-capacity power lines. It is operating at full capacity and may be expanded, Huang said.
TS Conductor said it will use the latest funds to open a second U.S. production facility. The site for the new facility wasn’t announced, though the company said the bulk of the new funds would be spent “east of the Mississippi River.”
CEO Huang calls his company’s development “a superhighway for the grid’s electricity.”
In addition to the increasingly lengthy outages, data center power demand in the U.S. alone is on track to double from 2022 levels by 2030.
Traditional power lines use aluminum for conductivity with a steel core for strength, a combination that leads to heavier lines prone to disruption during bad weather. TS Conductor uses a carbon fiber core as a lighter-weight alternative.
The company says the lighter weight also eliminates the sagging that risks sparking fires in nearby trees, while the newer wires can stand up better to wind and heavy ice without breaking.
CEO Huang says its power lines “can carry up to triple the electricity” compared to the older technology.
Eliminating sag also means that fewer and shorter towers are needed for new-build projects, saving on capital expenditures, said Huang.
He added that deploying the new power lines is “faster, easier and cheaper.”
The light weight of the carbon allows for more aluminum, meaning the wires can carry more electricity.
Despite the technological leap, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that utility companies may hinder the commercial progress.
Utilities make their money on capital expenditures, while revamping existing lines falls under operational spending “so utilities and their investors don’t profit,” the newspaper said.
“If you use a more efficient conductor, there is benefit to the system, but the utilities don’t get a penny for that decision,” Huang told the WSJ.
Huang said TS Conductor’s revenue will be between $35 million and $40 million this year, according to the newspaper.
Urgent Need
The new investment round also included Quanta Services, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (founded by Bill Gates), Gates Frontier and Energy & Environment Investment Inc., among others, TS Conductor said.
The company currently employs more than 60 people, almost entirely based in Huntington Beach, said Huang.
“Upgrading the world’s power grids is an urgent and growing need driven by the rise of AI data centers and the push towards electrification,” said Pradeep Tagare, head of investments at National Grid Partners.
“TS Conductor’s solution offers an expedited path to greater capacity while improving reliability and safety. We’ve supported the growth of TS for years and believe the technology is the right solution at the right time.”
