Do you care about grid interconnection in New England? If you do, and you don’t mind spending a few days in a quaint coastal town in autumn, read on.
New England has set ambitious clean energy goals and most states in the region are well on their way to weaning off fossil fuels, but significant obstacles remain along the path toward 100% renewable energy. The intermittent nature of wind and solar generation, lack of land for large-scale utility projects, and increasingly harsh weather pose challenges that must be overcome while New England simultaneously modernizes its grid to account for more distributed energy resources.
The interconnection event GridTECH Connect Forum will assemble hundreds of key stakeholders in the northeast to collaborate on solutions ensuring a reliable and equitable clean energy future October 28-30 in Newport, Rhode Island. Project developers, utilities, regulators, and policymakers each count interconnection among their most pressing problems, and GTC provides an opportunity to break out of silos and have impactful, direct conversations that move the needle and improve the process of getting more clean energy on the grid.
As you may recall, this event was held at the same location last year in its first standalone iteration.
“The door is open. We can’t do this alone anymore,” chief operating officer of National Grid New England Nicola Medalova told the audience in her keynote speech. “We need you all and we want your ideas.”
That door is still open, and Medalova will be back to speak at GridTECH this year too! Here’s what you can expect at the end of the month in Rhode Island:
Monday, October 28
Department of Energy & ISO New England: Interconnection workshop
A staple of GTC since its inception, the Department of Energy’s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange team is back again for another collaborative session kicking off the event on Monday. DOE will guide participants through the updated interconnection process in New England and will provide tips on navigating it efficiently. This mostly discussion-based workshop will encourage participants to work together to solve interconnection thought problems by envisioning the process under specific conditions and parameters. ISO New England’s Alex Rost will share a presentation on the interconnection impacts of proposed FERC Orders 2023/2023-A related rule changes, currently pending before the Commission. (1-5 pm, Salon I)
Tuesday, October 29
Keynote and state regulatory issues roundtable
Keynote speaker Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will underscore the importance of collaboration in achieving our clean energy goals, highlighting Rhode Island’s progress and identifying ways to accelerate interconnection. Following Senator Whitehouse’s remarks, Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School, will moderate a keynote panel of prominent policymakers in New England featuring:
- Jessica Waldorf, Chief of Staff & Director of Policy Implementation – New York State Department of Public Service (DPS)
- James Van Nostrand, Chair – Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU)
- Marissa Gillett, Chair – Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)
- Philip L. Bartlett II, J.D., Chairman – Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
Don’t miss your chance to connect with this who’s who of prominent New England decision-makers all assembled in one place! (8:30-10 am, Salon II, III, IV)
Interconnection 201: How a study works (or should)
The spiritual successor to the Interconnection 101 panel at GridTECH Connect Forum – California dives into the scope of a standardized interconnection study. Panelists from New Leaf, Eversource, and more will explain what’s covered and what isn’t and elaborate on the feedback and follow-up information project developers can expect to receive. This session runs concurrently with Fitting batteries into big cities featuring NineDot Energy, Ameresco, and more, which explores the challenges and benefits of cramming storage into densely populated urban environments. (10:15-11 am, Salon II, III, IV)
Predicting interconnection upgrade costs
This session will explore how the cost to interconnect a project is calculated and the variables that cause prices to fluctuate. How do we find the slightest bit of cost certainty in uncertain markets? NYSEIA’s Noah Ginsburg moderates a conversation amongst speakers from Nexamp, Agilitas, and Rhode Island Energy. This session runs concurrently with Workforce constraints and their impact on interconnection timelines, a conversation between The Nature Conservancy’s Melanie Santiago-Mosier and Standard Solar, AES, ReVision, and Solect about workforce issues across the industry. (11:15-Noon, Salon I)
Planning the future grid: ESMP updates
Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil will share updates and perspectives on the Electric Sector Modernization Plans (ESMPs) filed with the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) and delve into the implications for market participants. (1:30-2:15, Salon II, III, IV)
A new addition to the GridTECH menu, state policy spotlights are 15-20 minute mini-sessions highlighting renewable energy goals and progress within the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. (Starting at 1:30, Salon I)
Growing, growing, gone: Predicting load growth in New England
Through their ESMP filings, Massachusetts IOUs are looking at ways to improve advanced short-term load forecasting approaches. This session featuring speakers from Eversource, National Grid, and Form Energy will entertain the possibility of a predictive mechanism like a “day ahead” app that could inform stakeholders of activity on the distribution grid. Panelists will go over approaches and challenges to forecasting five and 10-year plans based on traditional load profiles. The session will include a discussion of how to meet demand reliably given forecast uncertainty and will touch on rate design as it applies to data centers or EV charging centers being charged for a broader impact on the system. (2:30-3:15 Salon II, III, IV)
Thanks for your flexibility! How phased interconnection can benefit New England
This session will focus on how project developers can benefit from cost-savings, shorter interconnection times, and a wide range of smart inverter capabilities via flexible or phased interconnection. If more widely adopted, how should regulators determine the parameters and rules of such a program and how should markets incentivize it? Speakers from IREC, National Grid, DSD Renewables, and RWE Clean Energy dive in. (3:30-4:15, Salon II, III, IV)
At our BESS: Best bets for transmission-connected batteries
Transmission-connected battery energy storage can defer costly upgrades, increase reliability, and provide ancillary services. Which such services can/should a BESS provide, and how may utilities coordinate their delivery? This session will explore market making, potential revenue streams, and modeling challenges via a discussion moderated by Key Capture Energy featuring NYISO, the Reading Municipal Light Department, and Blue Wave. (4:30-5:15, Salon II, III, IV)
Wednesday, October 30
Operationalizing our ambitions
National Grid New England Electric’s Chief Operating Officer, Nicola Medalova, is back at GTC to open up Wednesday with an abbreviated keynote address outlining how Massachusetts utilities are partnering with the state to advance clean energy ambitions, including unprecedented levels of planning and investment through recently approved Electric Sector Modernization Plans. (8:30-8:50, Salon II, III, IV)
Modeling effective community solar and storage
When clean energy benefits are shared by a community, what resources are actually provided? This session seeks to shed light on the “unknowns” of community storage and will explore what effective community solar and storage ordinances might look like, as the conversation shifts from utilities managing community assets to the ratepayers having more control over their energy. How can we establish viable markets and cost policies that create a win-win between communities and the energy sector? Nokia moderates a panel featuring Encore Renewable Energy, Lodestar Energy, Eversource, and SEIA. This session runs concurrently with Meeting load growth demands of EV charging in the Northeast, a conversation about supporting EV charging at scale with Rhode Island Energy, CALSTART, National Grid, and Solect Energy. (9:00-9:45, Salon I)
The NWA way: Non-wires alternatives use cases
This session will center around how utilities are using NWAs to address system constraints by modifying load to fit our existing infrastructure in a cost-effective way and how developers can fit into the mix. Panelists will share lessons learned and collaborate on ways to improve efficiency. Eversource, RIE, Convergent, Avangrid, and Con Edison weigh in. This panel is happening at the same time as What’s the worst that could happen? Worst-case scenarios and accountability with NREL, DOE, RWE, and Versant Power. (10-10:45, Salon II, III, IV)
Order up! How new FERC filings impact New England
FERC’s Michael Henry moderates a discussion including New Leaf Energy and ISO New England keying in on responses to FERC Orders 2222, 2223, and 1920. Concurrently, Encore, RIE, CleanCapital, and more discuss Pathways to meeting our clean energy goals to round out the event. (11-11:45, Salon I)
