Chicago-based Switched Source reported a 60% increase in deployments of its Phase-EQ grid-enhancing technology (Figure 1) over the past year, with units now operating across more than 10 utility service areas from Alaska to Florida.
The company’s Phase-EQ device dynamically balances power between phases on distribution circuits, addressing load imbalances that limit how much capacity utilities can extract from existing infrastructure. According to Switched Source, field data from operational sites consistently shows a 10% to 25% increase in load-serving capacity on active distribution circuits.
“Utilities are facing unprecedented load growth, not just at the transmission level with data centers, but at the distribution level due to continuing electrification and reliability needs,” said Charles Murray, co-founder and CEO of Switched Source. “Automating load balancing gives them a practical way to unlock capacity on existing infrastructure without waiting years for major capital projects.”
The technology is now deployed across New York, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts (Figure 2), Texas, and Washington state. A recent Georgia Power deployment is designed to reduce load imbalance by half and voltage imbalance by more than 30%, with the utility providing substation-level data to track performance.
Founded in 2016 and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E SCALEUP (Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential) program, Switched Source positions Phase-EQ as a faster, more cost-effective alternative to traditional wire upgrades for utilities facing near-term capacity constraints.
