The transmission companies behind a major project to preemptively build two offshore wind interconnection points in New England have submitted their first FERC filings for the project, outlining the potential benefits of the project and the significant risks that could derail its development. 

The Power Up New England Project, a collaboration among the six New England states, Eversource Energy, National Grid and Form Energy, was selected in 2024 to receive $389 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Innovation Program. (See DOE Announces $2.2B in Grid Resilience, Innovation Awards.) 

The project would create two interconnection points, located in Massachusetts and Connecticut, each capable of accommodating up to 2,400 MW of offshore wind capacity. Power Up also proposes to build a first-of-its-kind 100-hour battery in Maine. (See Form Energy to Develop First Multiday Storage Project in New England.) 

National Grid plans to develop its interconnection point at Brayton Point in southern Massachusetts (ER25-866), while Eversource proposes to build its portion of the project at the Huntsbrook Junction in eastern Connecticut (ER25-747).  

In the initial FERC filings for the project, the transmission owners requested that the commission authorize the full recovery of all prudently incurred costs if the project is canceled because of factors beyond the companies’ control. They said they likely would need approval of this request to proceed with the project. 

“It is highly unlikely that National Grid would be able to develop and construct NGPUP in the absence of firm assurance that it can recover its full prudent investment in the project in the event of termination, cancellation or abandonment outside of National Grid’s control,” said Andrew Schneller, vice president of New England electric regulation and strategy at National Grid. 

Eversource also requested a 50-basis-point adder for giving ISO-NE control of the facility when built. 

The New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE) has expressed support for the Eversource and National Grid requests. In a filing supporting Eversource’s request, NESCOE wrote that the cost recovery assurances are justified because the project features a lower profitability and additional risks of cancellation relative to a typical project. 

The transmission owners will not be able to earn a return on the portion of the project investment covered by the federal grant and have agreed to give NESCOE the right to cancel the project if the costs exceed the original estimate. 

“Although NESCOE would ordinarily be skeptical of a request for an incentive that would allow a transmission developer to recover 100% of its prudently incurred costs for its abandoned plant, NESCOE agrees with [Eversource] that the full abandoned plant incentive is just and reasonable here given the uniqueness of the Huntsbrook Project,” NESCOE wrote. 

Power Up also faces unique limits on its development timeline. It must be in service within eight years of the finalization of the federal funding agreement, which National Grid wrote is likely to occur in early 2025.  

“Eight years is a tight schedule for a project like NGPUP in the best of times,” Schneller said, noting that worker shortages and supply chain delays for transmission equipment have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He added that the project faces political risks at the state and federal level. 

“A reduction of federal tax incentives for renewable energy development or a slowing of federal regulatory review of offshore wind generation licenses could lead the states to re-evaluate the feasibility or benefits of new projects,” Schneller said, adding that the project could face a funding shortfall if one of the New England states rescinded its support.  

Potential Benefits

While the project features substantial risks, the states and transmission owners expect it to bring significant cost, reliability and emissions benefits if it is successfully built.  

According to DOE’s Grid Deployment Office, the project would provide an estimated $1.55 billion in wholesale energy costs savings. Eversource estimated “the offshore wind enabled by the Huntsbrook Project will reduce wholesale energy supply costs borne by New England customers by approximately $498 million (2023 real dollars) over a 10-year period.” 

Benjamin D’Antonio, director of economic analysis and transmission strategy at Eversource, testified that the project would help reduce the risks associated with offshore wind interconnection, lowering “the risk premium that an offshore wind developer may include in their clean energy supply offer in the solicitation context.” 

The additions of offshore wind also would provide significant reliability benefits to the region’s grid, D’Antonio said. He estimated the addition of 2,400 MW of offshore wind at Eversource’s proposed interconnection point would reduce energy shortfall by 187,000 MWh over a worst-case, 21-day winter scenario.  

“ISO-NE has shown that offshore wind can provide significant resilience benefits to the New England electric and gas systems during extreme cold weather events by reducing both stress on gas pipelines and reliance on other fossil fuels such as oil,” D’Antonio said. (See ISO-NE Study Highlights the Importance of OSW, Nuclear, Stored Fuel.) 

The 2,400-MW injection of offshore wind also would reduce carbon emissions by at least 3.6 million tons annually, D’Antonio noted.  

NESCOE wrote that its own analysis “showed similar results to Mr. D’Antonio’s analysis of the Huntsbrook Project.” It added that it projects Power Up to provide net benefits even with a 150% cost overrun, 50% decrease in benefits and three-to-five-year delay in offshore wind deployment. 

“Due in large part to the significant benefits provided by the DOE grant, net benefits remained positive unless NESCOE assumed that offshore wind projects were delayed by several decades,” NESCOE wrote.  

If successful, the project could serve as a model for additional projects focused on interconnecting the resources needed to meet load growth and decarbonize the grid. ISO-NE estimated in October that the region would need to add an average of 1,293 MW of offshore wind, 268 MW of onshore wind, 955 MW of solar and 952 MW of batteries per year to meet state goals. (See ISO-NE Study Lays Out Challenges of Deep Decarbonization.) 

“The success of the Huntsbrook Project in establishing an onshore interconnection hub for offshore wind resources will offer a replicable model for any region aiming to integrate large-scale renewables like offshore wind,” Eversource wrote. 

However, the incoming Trump administration appears likely to attempt to roll back DOE funding for transmission projects, which would hurt the state’s chances at receiving additional funding for similar efforts over the next four years. The Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” calls for the Grid Deployment Office and the DOE Loan Program to be “eliminated or reformed.” (See How Much of the IRA Can be Saved in 2025?)