The six New England states will share in $389 million of federal grant money for the Power Up New England proposal to upgrade the region’s shared power grid. Power Up, submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy through the second round of the competitive Grid Innovation Program, features significant investments in regional electric infrastructure.

These include upgrades to points of interconnection in Southeast Massachusetts and Southeast Connecticut to ready the onshore transmission system for up to 4,800 megawatts of additional offshore wind.

Power Up will also deploy a multi-day battery energy storage system in Northern Maine to enhance grid resilience and optimize the delivery of renewable energy. Together, these investments will provide the New England region with access to thousands of megawatts of offshore wind, greater resource diversity and increased reliability while lowering consumer costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the office of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.  

“Massachusetts is moving full speed ahead on clean energy and climatetech,” said Healey. “These game-changing federal funds will mean more jobs, lower energy costs for families and businesses and cleaner air for all. We’re grateful to DOE for the recognition and support.”