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ANNAPOLIS, MD - Maryland Governor Wes Moore today announced that Maryland has joined eight other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states in issuing a joint strategic action plan that identifies specific steps that state, regional, and federal policymakers can take to pursue interregional transmission solutions to reduce costs for consumers and make energy systems more reliable. Known as the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission, the group represents a first-of-its-kind coordination effort to address gaps in transmission planning and promote solutions that offer significant grid and consumer benefits.
“Increased transmission capacity can provide consumer cost savings and reduce the need for fossil-fueled power plants that exist solely to meet peak demand,” said Gov. Moore. “This collaboration illustrates exactly why state-led action is so important to achieving our energy, environmental, and economic goals.”
The effort announced today highlights both near-term and mid-term plans to guide participating states. Key near-term actions include issuing a Request for Information to identify specific potential qualifying interregional transmission projects. The plan also identifies transmission equipment standardization efforts as a key strategy to reduce the cost of transmission development.
The Northeast States Collaborative includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Formed following a 2023 request to the U.S. Department of Energy to explore how ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM Interconnection can improve the flow of electricity between regions, increase reliability and improve affordability. The multi-state group signed a memorandum of understanding last summer to establish a framework for coordinating activities and identified the strategic action plan announced today as a critical next step forward.
Since that time, the collaborative has together engaged federal agencies and organizations with technical expertise to identify and assess shared areas of focus for interregional transmission cooperation and coordination. The delivery of a strategic action plan is a key milestone as the participating states seek to remove regulatory and technical barriers to greater interregional transmission planning and engagement for the benefit of consumers and grid reliability.