October 1, 2024

Third CLG meeting of 2024 features discussion of offshore wind; video available

Audience members listen to a presentation at the third Consumer Liaison Group meeting of 2024. The quarterly meetings are free and open to the public.

The third Consumer Liaison Group (CLG) meeting of 2024 focused on the opportunities and challenges associated with offshore wind power in New England. Experts on various aspects of the field gave presentations and answered audience questions.

A video recording and summary of the September 12 meeting, held in New London, Connecticut, are available online.

The meeting began with a community welcome from Ulysses Hammond, the recently retired executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority. Hammond described how the New London State Pier is being transformed into a staging area for offshore wind construction.

Ulysses Hammond, retired executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority, shares a community welcome.

During the first panel discussion, Al McBride, ISO New England’s vice president of System Planning, gave a presentation on transmission planning for the future grid. The presentation included information regarding longer-term transmission planning, new resource interconnection, and capacity auction reforms. Abraham Silverman, assistant research scholar at the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University, discussed regional planning efforts around offshore wind.

Al McBride, vice president of System Planning at ISO New England, left, answers a question on transmission infrastructure related to offshore wind development. At right is Abraham Silverman, assistant research scholar at the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

The second panel highlighted research around offshore wind. Josh Berman, senior attorney at the Sierra Club, presented results from a study by Synapse Energy Economics Inc. of the potential impacts on consumer costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and other factors associated with adding significant offshore wind capacity to New England. Liz Mettetal, director of Integrated System Planning at Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3), discussed how offshore wind and battery storage systems can complement each other to enhance power system reliability. Susan Muller, senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, discussed the reliability benefits of offshore wind on its own.

Panelists answer questions from attendees about offshore wind and energy storage.

Anne George, vice president, chief external affairs and communications officer at ISO New England, shared the ISO’s regional update, describing summertime hot weather operations, findings from the Economic Planning for the Clean Energy Transition study, and the ISO’s proposed operating and capital budgets for 2025.

The CLG is a forum for sharing information between the ISO and electricity consumers in New England. All CLG meetings are free and open to the public. The next meeting is scheduled for December 4 in Boston.