Second CLG Meeting of 2024 featured discussion on grid reliability during clean energy transition; video available

The second Consumer Liaison Group (CLG) meeting of 2024 featured a discussion on efforts to ensure power system reliability as the New England region continues to transition to clean energy resources.

A video recording and summary of the June 4 meeting, held in Holyoke, Massachusetts, are available online.

In addition to the in-person attendees, nearly 100 people participated online.

The meeting began with a community welcome from Naia Tenerowicz, an environmental justice organizer with the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition.

A roundtable discussion on reliability regulations and grid operator governance followed, featuring presentations by Joshua Macey, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and Darrin Korte, executive director of the Cambridge Community Center. Regine Spector, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Consumer Liaison Group Coordinating Committee member, moderated the discussion and a question-and-answer session.

Henry Yoshimura, director of demand resource strategy at ISO-NE, gave a presentation on the roles of demand resources and demand response. Yoshimura explained that demand resources can be passive, like energy-efficient lightbulbs, which permanently reduce demand once installed, or active, requiring a grid operator to dispatch them to reduce energy use. State-sponsored energy efficiency programs, which participate in the capacity market administered by ISO New England, are compensated for reducing demand. Similarly, some demand response resources are paid for providing capacity and can be dispatched based on their bid price.

Anne George, vice president, chief external affairs and communications officer at ISO New England, shared the ISO’s regional update with a focus on demand response, due to interest from CLG attendee surveys. George covered the roles and responsibilities of the ISO and followed with updates on market administration, grid operations, and system planning.

A question-and-answer period followed, and the meeting concluded with remarks from CLG Coordinating Committee Chair Liz Anderson, chief of the Energy and Ratepayer Advocacy Division at the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General.

The CLG is a forum for sharing information between the ISO and electricity consumers in New England. The next meeting is scheduled for September 12 in New London, Connecticut.