This article was published by The Energy Mix on Aug. 1, 2024.
By Christopher Bonasia
Ten states across the U.S. Northeast have signed on to a first-in-the-nation agreement to collaboratively improve electric grid transmission infrastructure across the region, signalling a proactive approach to addressing grid reliability and access to clean electricity.
“As we face down the challenge of climate change, we know we cannot tackle this threat as individual states,” Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper said in a release.
“Through partnerships like this collaborative, we will be able to advance more cost-effective transmission projects for the residents of the Northeast.”
The 10 states—Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont—entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish “a non-binding framework to coordinate enhanced interregional transmission planning and development.”
The agreement lays out a process to coordinate planning across the Eastern Seaboard’s three independent system operators. The different operating regions each have unique transmission planning processes, “making state cooperation across regional grid boundaries critical to cost-effectively meeting state clean energy goals,” says the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute.
The deal took form last year when eight of the states contacted the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to request funding for planning, modelling, and stakeholder facilitation, and to “work in partnership to explore opportunities for increased interconnectivity, including for offshore wind, between our regions.”
“Rather than wait for new regulatory mandates to spur action, we can collectively take steps now to consider expanding ties between our regions to help enhance system reliability and transition to a clean energy future more quickly and affordably,” the states wrote in the June, 2023 letter.
After that, more than 50 senior DOE staff and state energy officials convened for two days of roundtable discussions, and the MOU was eventually signed on July 9, 2024.
Through the MOU, the 10 states are able to coordinate with the DOE, with independent system operators and regional transmission organizations, and with other stakeholders. The MOU includes agreements for cooperation and information sharing, along with a clarification that the framework does not include a cost-sharing provision. All states will be responsible for their own costs.
“This new collaborative will be an important tool to help develop inter-regional transmission projects for offshore wind resources,” said Rory M. Christian, CEO of the New York State Department of Public Service. “Harnessed off the Northeast coast and delivered to communities as clean, reliable power, they will play a key role in meeting the requirements of the [Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act] and reducing emissions.”
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