Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission

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About

The Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission (States Collaborative) is made up of representatives from the state commissions, agencies or governors’ offices of ten states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont – that have come together to coordinate on transmission grid expansion efforts in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The States Collaborative provides a central organization for interested states to coordinate with DOE, independent system operators/regional transmission organizations, and other stakeholders on identifying key transmission priorities and developing practical solutions to building out the onshore and offshore transmission grid. The Eastern Seaboard is home to three independent system operators, each with its own transmission planning processes, making state cooperation across regional grid boundaries critical to cost-effectively meeting state clean energy goals.

On July 9, 2024, ten states entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize the States Collaborative’s efforts and accelerate the siting and permitting of regional and interregional transmission facilities, including both on-shore and offshore options. The MOU reflects that:

  • Identifying shared transmission priorities and proactively integrating them into regional transmission planning processes may yield substantial benefits to the citizens of each state;
  • Federal policy and programmatic support is desirable to facilitate regional and interregional transmission planning for offshore wind and other clean energy objectives; and
  • The establishment of common technical standards for offshore wind transmission facilities that would have the potential to reduce the cost of meeting federal and State offshore wind goals and ensure current transmission procurements are forward compatible with future interregional transmission projects.]

The States Collaborative is facilitated by Abraham Silverman, who is an associate research scholar with the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI) at Johns Hopkins University.

History

“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.” – States Collaborative Letter, June 16, 2023

On June 16, 2023, eight states sent a letter to Maria Robinson, Director of the Grid Deployment Office at DOE, requesting that DOE make “funding available through your office for planning, modeling, and analysis and to facilitate stakeholder discussion.” The Collaborative sought to “work in partnership” with the DOE “to explore opportunities for increased interconnectivity, including for offshore wind, between our regions.”

In early November 2023, over 50 senior DOE staff and state energy officials convened for a two-day series of roundtable discussion and presentations from representatives from industry, grid managers, and federal agencies.

 

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