Wind Energy – Forming Northeast States Collaborative USA
Eight states across the Northeast and New England have banded together to ask for the US Department of Energy’s help in expanding electric power ties within those parts of the country.
The states want the DOE to assist in forming a Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission. Using the DOE’s technical expertise, the group can explore opportunities for increased interconnectivity, including for offshore wind, between our regions, the states wrote in a June 16 letter to Maria Robinson, director of the DOE’s Grid Deployment Office.
The request was made by New York, New Jersey and the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Under the proposed collaborative, the DOE would lead the states in interregional transmission planning activities. Those activities may include exploring mutually beneficial options for increasing the flow of electricity between three different planning regions in the Northeast and assessing offshore wind infrastructure needs and solutions.
In addition to the DOE and states, the three grid operators in those regions — ISO New England, New York ISO and PJM Interconnection LLC — could be invited to provide technical support, the June 16 letter said. Other states and, eventually, Canadian representatives could also be part of the collaborative’s work in the future, the letter added.
