July 13, 2021 By Carol J. Holahan
Categories: Uncategorized
The managers of the New England States Committee on Electricity (“NESCOE”) recently released a report (“Report”) to New England's governors to advance its shared vision for a clean, affordable, and reliable 21st-century electric grid. The Report is the latest development that highlights the growing tension between the states' decarbonization policies on the one hand, and ISO-NE's wholesale market rules, on the other. The Report calls for critical changes to three elements of New England's regional energy system: wholesale market design, transmission planning, and ISO-NE governance. According to the Report, failure to make significant changes to these key system elements will continue to hinder, if not prevent, the New England states from reaching their decarbonization goals.
NESCOE's Report is not unexpected. In October 2020, five of New England's governors issued a joint statement demanding changes from ISO-NE. The governors sent a clear message that the status quo at ISO-NE is a substantial barrier to their states' clean energy goals: “going forward, we require a regional electricity system operator and planner that is a committed partner in our decarbonization efforts.” Shortly thereafter, NESCOE published a visioning document, expanding the governors' statement.
NESCOE's Report refines that vision and is the product of technical forums and stakeholder comments collected since October. For each of the three elements–wholesale market design, transmission planning, and ISO-NE governance–the Report provides a summary, a status on current activity, and recommendations. A high-level summary of these recommendations, and recommendations concerning equity and environmental justice, are provided below.
Recommendations for Wholesale Electricity Market Design
Recommendations for Transmission Planning
Recommendations for ISO-NE Governance
Recommendations for Equity and Environmental Justice
NESCOE's Report proposes a path forward and calls for collaboration among all key stakeholders in the generation, transmission and distribution of energy in the region, namely, the states, the regional transmission operator, ISO-NE, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and NEPOOL, the voluntary association of wholesale market participants. Whether NESCOE's Report will result in necessary market design changes at ISO-NE, get the necessary buy-in from stakeholders, or receive FERC's endorsement, remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that individual stakeholders acting alone cannot bring about the changes necessary to green the grid. NESCOE closes the Report with an optimistic tone: “This report is another step toward the significant work we need to execute collaboratively… for the public we all serve.”
*This article was also written by Foley Hoag summer associate, Joshua Rosen.