ISO-NE issues 2026 Annual Work Plan

ISO New England has issued its 2026 Annual Work Plan, outlining major projects for the coming year.

Anchor projects and related core implementations are the highest-priority initiatives across the ISO for securing and advancing a reliable, cost-effective electric power system through innovation and collaboration:

• Capacity Auction Reforms: This effort will restructure the region’s capacity market to help ensure resource adequacy, system reliability, and cost-effectiveness in light of changing system conditions and the evolving resource mix. Work has been underway since 2024 and will continue into 2027 and beyond.
• Asset Condition Reviewer: The New England states and other stakeholders have asked the ISO to develop a robust process for additional, independent review of transmission owners’ proposals for refurbishing aging transmission facilities.
• Longer-Term Transmission Planning: The ISO is evaluating six proposals to upgrade the transmission system between northern Maine, where land-based wind generation is expected to increase, and more populous regions of southern New England, where demand for electricity is highest. The ISO may identify a preferred solution as soon as September 2026. Meanwhile, work will begin to bring the ISO into compliance with an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) related to longer-term transmission planning.
• Dynamic Operating Reserves: The ISO will assess new reserve products to compensate resources that provide flexible response capabilities. The need for these products is driven by continuing growth of intermittent solar and wind power, as well as increasing variability in demand.
• Information Technology: To manage an increasingly complex power grid, and to comply with FERC orders, the ISO is developing software and systems.

Also addressed in the Annual Work Plan are a number of other notable initiatives that target modernization, advance efficiency, and help manage risks across markets, planning, operations, and software structures. The Annual Work Plan is published each fall and updated each spring.

The ISO solicits input from stakeholders by sharing and discussing the plan with the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) Participants Committee, as well as representatives of the New England states through the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners (NECPUC) and the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE). Ultimately, the work plan helps inform the ISO’s annual budget.