Six New England states have become the first in the U.S. to collectively and proactively launch a longer push for new power transmission projects to ease critical capacity gaps in the region, calling on the ISO New England network operator seeking bids to expand two network interfaces in the south. Maine and develop new infrastructure, such as a substation, in Pittsfield, Maine, to connect up to 1,200 MW of onshore wind generation. .
The New England States Electric Board sent the request earlier this month to the operator, aiming to build the projects by 2035 but offering a minimum scope to developers, which would be chosen by committee and ISO New England and may include additional updates.
The compact states are Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.
“This is a big issue in the regional energy space,” says Jason Marshall, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “It’s really the first proactive transmission planning procurement in the nation led by a group of states.” Feedback from developers presented to the committee was “overwhelmingly positive” about taking this proactive approach, he adds.
The committee’s request follows the approval this year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of two important national rules that allow for more proactive transmission planning in all regions of the US and the approval of agency of the New England Long Range Plan.
This plan “is a monumental step forward, demonstrating the region’s commitment to building a network ready for the future,” the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a September analysis. “If all goes according to plan, it will soon translate into the construction of urgent new transmission lines.”
To accommodate the interconnection of wind and other clean energy resources, Marshall says developers would be responsible for offering proposals, which ISO-New England would evaluate for benefits. It expects the grid operator to issue a first request for proposals in the first half of 2025. with project selection in 2026.
The projects will be paid for through a wholesale electricity market rate that is passed on to ratepayers. But the projects would likely result in a net decrease in their costs over time by avoiding the need for other transmissions and improving access to more clean energy, Marshall says, with cost estimates identified as scopes are made. definitive
“The genesis of the committee’s request to ISO-NE dates back almost five years to a 2020 vision statement [it] issued on behalf of all New England states,” adds Marshall. “That statement included a call … to develop a state-led process for the grid operator to proactively explore transmission needs and look decades into the future.”
