New England states have come together to plan steps to take to secure federal funding to facilitate investments in upgrading transmission infrastructure in the region.
In concept papers filed with the US Department of Energy (DoE) recently, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont requested the department for support for “innovative electricity transmission proposals” that would grow the region’s supply of clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
Achieving the New England states’ energy policy requirements and goals will require substantial new grid infrastructure investment, and federal support – including from DoE – will be crucial to advance innovative and collaborative projects without shifting costs or over-burdening electricity customers, the New England states said.
By pursuing a regional approach, the states aim to optimise transmission infrastructure investments and provide benefits, including cost savings and winter reliability, for residents and businesses across all New England.
New England states have unique winter energy security and reliability risks, relying on natural gas to generate nearly half of their electricity needs while sitting at the end of an often-constrained natural gas pipeline system.
The states are therefore interested in transmission investments that reduce the region’s reliance on imported fossil fuels in winter months, help insulate electricity customers from the wild swings in the fossil fuel markets currently leading to high electricity prices throughout New England and take advantage of diverse energy sources.
With potential for more than 14 gigawatts of offshore wind in federal waters off the coast of New England, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Maine Governor’s Energy Office, Massachusetts’s Department of Energy Resources, and Rhode Island’s Office of Energy Resources proposed, with support from Vermont and New Hampshire, a Joint State Innovation Partnership for Offshore Wind.
This forms part of a DoE competitive funding opportunity that will eventually award up to $250m per project for selected projects that implement innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to enhance grid resilience and reliability.
The proposed partnership between states, transmission providers, and wind developers, working closely with the New England grid operator, would proactively plan, identify, and select a portfolio of transmission projects needed to unlock the region’s significant offshore wind potential, improve grid reliability and resiliency, and invest in job growth and quality.
The innovative transmission proposals are part of the states’ work together under the New England States Regional Transmission Initiatives.