B Confusion with regards to power lines and the power lost

1. Mar 11, 2017

Coolamebe

Ok, so the title was pretty vague, I'm not sure how to succinctly describe the confusion. Anyway, so I've learnt that the power lost is P=I2R, and so by increasing the voltage, as P=VI and is constant, the current will be lowered, and thus the power lost will decrease.
I'm confused about a couple things. While my physics teacher was specifically talking about P=I2R, should not P=V2/R also give the value, and so by increasing the voltage we increase the power lost? Is this not a contradiction?
I feel like it could be remedied if the wires in power lines are not ohmic conductors and so half the math I did above is invalid.
Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

2. Mar 11, 2017

lychette

The calculation relates to the power dissipated (lost) in the transmission cables so the voltage you need is the voltage across the cables. I think you are confusing this with the voltage across the load (at the end of the cables)

3. Mar 11, 2017

Coolamebe

Can you explain this a little more in depth? My teacher explained this very superficially so I'm not too sure on this.