Regional collaboration guides integration of new transmission line, other ISO-NE projects

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

Collaboration is at the heart of ISO New England’s work to keep the region’s power system reliable. Much of that collaboration happens through stakeholder committees, where participants review and provide input on key documents and procedures.

These committees assist in fulfilling the ISO’s three critical roles: operating the power grid, administering the wholesale electricity markets, and regional system planning.

Helping to guide these efforts for the ISO is Nick Gangi. As chair of the Transmission and Reliability committees, his role is ensuring that complex proposals move through the stakeholder process efficiently. His team reviews every document before it goes out to stakeholders, making sure messaging is clear, constructive, and consistent.

Gangi joined ISO New England in late 2021, bringing a background in electrical engineering and experience from both Eversource, the utility company, and PJM Interconnection, ISO-NE’s counterpart in the Mid-Atlantic region. At Eversource, Gangi worked in the ISO Policy Group, where he was involved in the committee process on the stakeholder side.

“I was on the other side of the table,” said Gangi. “And then this job popped up, and I switched over.”

Gangi’s title is manager of NEPOOL Reliability Services. Separate from ISO New England, the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) is a voluntary association whose members include entities that own and operate bulk power facilities, as well as representatives of regulatory and consumer advocacy agencies. “The NEPOOL Relations team ensures proposed market and system changes are informed by diverse stakeholder input, rigorously vetted through facilitation of formal governance processes, and well positioned for regulatory approval and durable implementation,” said Mariah Winkler, director, NEPOOL Relations.

Gangi and the NEPOOL Reliability Services team were involved in one of the ISO’s more significant projects in recent memory — integrating the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission line into the regional grid.

The 145-mile transmission line stretches from the Canadian border to a substation in Lewiston, Maine, where the electricity it carries is injected into the New England grid. The project grew out of renewable energy legislation passed in Massachusetts in 2016. It was built and will be maintained by a subsidiary of Avangrid. ISO New England has operational control over the line in its role as a regional transmission organization.

Bringing NECEC on line required a series of new agreements and changes to the ISO tariff, the document outlining the rules and guidelines that govern the ISO and its market participants. Each step had to be navigated through the stakeholder process, so participants had the chance to review, ask questions, and raise concerns.

“It’s about ending up in the best place possible for the region,” said Gangi. “For these documents, the process was informative, and it always gives the participants an opportunity to weigh in.”

The effort took about a year and involved close coordination with subject matter experts and business partners so any and all questions from the region could be answered.

“I have to have enough knowledge to talk to participants, but during meetings, it’s all about calling the right people to answer the more technical questions,” Gangi said. “It’s about having good working relationships.”

With NECEC complete, Gangi’s team is already hard at work supporting other major initiatives, such as the Capacity Auction Reforms (CAR) key project.

“CAR is a lot more in-depth and comes with more questions,” said Gangi. “Each NECEC document took three meetings. CAR will take two years of meetings.”

While each project poses its own unique challenges, Gangi said he and his team thrive on the variety.

“I love it,” said Gangi. “It’s changing every day. For bigger projects, it’s never the same problem twice. Working with stakeholders is both engaging and rewarding, particularly when it leads to outcomes that best serve the region.”

More from the series:

• Teamwork across ISO-NE critical in addition of new transmission line
• From sea turtles to transmission lines: A lawyer’s journey
• The code behind the connection: ISO-NE’s IT experts pave way for electricity imports
• Turning complex studies into clear guidelines for grid operators