From sea turtles to transmission lines: A lawyer’s journey

This story is the second in a series spotlighting ISO New England employees who helped complete a major, multi-year project that required expertise from across the organization.

“My job is to enable informed decision-making,” says Regulatory Counsel Jillian Kasow.

Jillian Kasow joined ISO New England in 2024, bringing a unique blend of legal expertise, energy policy insight, and an understanding of narratives. As regulatory counsel, it’s her job to translate complex regulatory issues into clear, actionable guidance. Kasow primarily supports the ISO’s transmission planning and operations teams, providing legal review on topics such as the regional planning process and energy exports. She also translates technical information to make it more accessible to leaders and stakeholders.

“My job is to enable informed decision-making,” Kasow said. “It’s really important to be very objective and enable their decision-making. That’s something that I’ve focused on developing as an attorney over the years.”

Kasow’s journey wasn’t the most predictable one. She started college as an engineering student before switching to a literature program, which led her to a job at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut as a grant writer. There, she wrote research- and education-based grants, laying the groundwork for her ability to break down complex information into digestible language.

One project there, related to a program responding to sea turtle and marine mammal strandings, set her on the path to where she is today.

“It was in that project and writing that grant that I became exposed to federal regulations and international agreements,” she said. “It was enough to pique my interest. I felt that I wanted to be at that table, and that’s when I started thinking about going to law school.”

She didn’t just think about it. Kasow graduated cum laude from Albany Law School in 2010, then gained real-world legal experience through roles in the New York State Senate, a private law firm, and the New York Department of State before making the jump to ISO-NE.

Recently, Kasow played a key role in the years-long effort to integrate New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) into the regional power grid. The 145-mile transmission line, which began commercial operations in January, stretches from the Canadian border to a substation in Lewiston, Maine. NECEC grew out of renewable energy legislation passed in Massachusetts in 2016. It was built and will be maintained by a subsidiary of Avangrid, but ISO New England has operational control over the line in its role as a regional transmission organization.

Kasow led revisions to the ISO tariff, the document outlining the rules and guidelines that govern the ISO and its market participants. The changes were necessary to recognize the addition of NECEC and to support implementation efforts for various agreements between ISO-NE and external organizations involved in the project.

Before NECEC, the region hadn’t added a new external tie line for many years, making it new legal territory for the ISO. Kasow said she thrives on the challenge of interpreting rules and navigating unfamiliar ground.

 “It’s always a moving target,” she said. “We have our laws and our regulations, but they’re always going to be interpreted differently over time depending on what a new fact pattern is. It’s that marginal next step. What does this mean? Where is this headed? When you take the time to understand the storytelling before that — why it was done that way, whose interests were affected, what were the motivations — then you can identify the need for change and really pinpoint that and narrate that.”

Monica Gonzalez, assistant general counsel for Operations & Planning, challenged Kasow to shine by assigning her important legal tasks related to NECEC. Kasow said it was evident early on that Gonzalez, and ISO-NE, were investing in her.

“I feel very grateful to have Jillian on the Legal Operations & Planning team,” Gonzalez said. “Jillian has made an incredible impact since joining the ISO and has been instrumental in advancing the integration of the New England Clean Energy Connect.”

“I’m thrilled with the opportunity that was extended to me to be here,” Kasow said. “It sounds lofty, but I really believe all of my experience up to now led me here, and I couldn’t be happier.”

More from the series:

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