The exploitation of power lines currently in operation has now become a common practice among electric system operators. The construction of new power lines requires taking economic, political and social problems into consideration. This paper considers two methodologies adopted by the Italian Transmission System Operator (TSO), Terna S.p.A.: Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) and Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging-Geographic Information System (L-GIS). DTR systems dynamically calculate the real transport capacity of a power line. The L-GIS system allows, after the geo-referencing of the power line, the management of any interference between the line and the nearby obstacles, permitting the optimization of the high voltage line operation. In this paper, after a brief illustration of the two methods, the authors report the results of some applications in the Sicilian electrical power High Voltage (HV) system.