Northeastern US States Request Federal Support to Form Interregional Transmission Planning Collaborative

June 20, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

New England states, New York, and New Jersey have formally requested federal support to establish an interregional transmission planning collaborative, which would see the US Department of Energy (DOE) leading the states in planning activities for interconnections in the Northeast US and assessing offshore wind infrastructure needs and solutions.

In a joint letter requesting support to form a Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission, state officials said that by forming the group and leveraging DOE’s technical expertise, DOE and states representing New England, New York, and New Jersey can work in partnership to explore opportunities for increased interconnectivity, including for offshore wind, between the three regions.

Submitted on 16 June, the letter was signed by officials from the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

“The Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission represents how the Healey-Driscoll Administration is looking to pursue innovative new approaches to accelerating our clean energy transition. We’re grateful to our neighboring states and regions for joining together to propose this concept”, said Rebecca Tepper, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary.

“The U.S. Department of Energy is uniquely positioned to bring states together on interregional transmission planning, and we look forward to exploring opportunities to benefit all of our states through this historic infrastructure partnership”, said Jason Marshall, EEA Deputy Secretary for Federal and Regional Energy Affairs.

“Massachusetts shares an energy grid within New England but is also part of a larger electrical network with states across the eastern United States. Working together to explore how to strengthen the ties between our regions makes sense. A more robust grid enhances system reliability, flows cheaper power, and helps accelerate our clean energy transition”.

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The US offshore wind industry organisation, Business Network for Offshore Wind, welcomed the formal request and said that state collaboration was key to overcoming transmission challenges.

Successfully integrating offshore wind into the existing power grid requires substantial upgrades and planning, but complex and overlapping jurisdictions have made coordination challenging between the states, according to the Network.

The organisation also said that it had consistently called for increased planning and coordination in offshore wind transmission development in order to drive down costs, increase environmental benefits, and increase market certainty in industry development.

“While the U.S. offshore wind industry hits important early milestones this month, the scale of the industry’s ambition is enormous. Demand for offshore wind already exceeds 80 GW, but we will fail to build out the industry and a manufacturing supply chain to support it without proper development of our electrical grid”, said Sam Salustro, Vice President of Strategic Communications at the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

“State collaboration is key to overcoming our transmission conundrum and the federal government must play a central role in facilitating these partnerships. Successful partnerships like the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission will save billions for ratepayers and foster long-term confidence in the U.S. market, leading to new supply chain investments and job growth”.