ISO-NE is pausing its discussions with stakeholders on Order 1920 compliance due to uncertainty from outstanding rehearing requests, legal challenges and recent indications of potential updates to the order from FERC commissioners, the RTO told stakeholders at the NEPOOL Transmission Committee on Oct. 24.

The RTO said it has not decided whether to file for an extension of the order’s June 2025 compliance deadline, but said it remains “committed to a thoughtful and deliberate stakeholder process.”

“This decision was also made in response to significant demand for staff time in the area of system planning, particularly the implementation of the region’s new longer-term transmission planning (LTTP) process,” said ISO-NE spokesperson Matt Kakley. “Given the uncertainty surrounding Order No. 1920, we believe it is more prudent to have staff focus efforts on the implementation of LTTP while the rehearing and appeals processes play out.”

Both Order 1920 and ISO-NE’s LTTP, which FERC approved in July, are focused on promoting long-term transmission planning. While Order 1920 requires transmission operators to plan over a 20-year horizon and develop default cost-allocation methods, LTTP gives more deference to the states, allowing them to determine when to pursue a solicitation, which needs they should target and whether to proceed with a project selected by ISO-NE. (See FERC Approves New Pathway for New England Transmission Projects.)

The states recently announced their plans to focus the first LTTP solicitation on increasing New England’s north-south transmission capacity and unlocking renewables in northern Maine. (See New England States Seeking Increase of North-South Tx Capacity and “NESCOE Seeks Feedback on LTTP Solicitation Structure,” ISO-NE Planning Advisory Committee Briefs: Oct. 23, 2024.)

ISO-NE’s pause drew mixed reactions from stakeholders. While some encouraged the RTO to push ahead as much as possible with compliance, others agreed with the need to wait for more certainty on the order.

“This landmark rule requires considerable effort and coordination to comply, but its benefits — including cost savings and increased grid resilience — will outweigh any initial challenges. We strongly urge ISO-NE to follow the lead of other grid regions like PJM, capitalize on the progress already made and comply with Order 1920 to meet clean energy goals and maintain grid reliability,” said Claire Lang-Ree of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Alex Lawton of Advanced Energy United expressed concern that the pause could lead to a compressed stakeholder engagement window but noted an extension would help to ease these concerns. He added that a silver lining to the pause appears to be the ability of the RTO to devote more resources to the LTTP process.

“Deferring compliance allows the ISO to focus exclusively on leveraging LTTP and executing a successful procurement, and also stretches the amount of time it can continue using LTTP unaltered, given the central role states play,” Lawton said.

Earlier in October, MISO announced plans to request a yearlong extension of its Order 1920 compliance, saying “much work and assessment is still needed to show compliance.” (See MISO to Request Year Deferral on FERC Order 1920.)

ISO-NE said it will keep stakeholders updated on its thought processes and will update the public when it plans to resume work on compliance.