Conclusion

The transformation of our region’s electric power grid is happening as the impact of climate change is unfolding before us in real time. The increasing frequency of devastating wildfires and intense storms around the globe at once validates public policy goals regarding decarbonization, and highlights the challenges of facilitating that transition while reliably managing an electric grid already impacted by a warming planet.

Yet, as complex and daunting as the challenges are, we have made tremendous progress in identifying them and taking steps to help the region chart an achievable path forward. Today, we know considerably more about the future power system than we did just five years ago, and we’ll know more in five years than we do today.

We believe we have a clear blueprint outlining the key components needed for tomorrow’s greener grid, and we have developed innovative tools that will help the region make it a reality. Importantly, these tools allow us to re-run scenarios as we learn more, taking new information into account—similar to how navigation apps recalculate a route to consider road construction or traffic. For example, the Probabilistic Energy Adequacy Tool (PEAT) can help the region stay on course toward achieving a reliable, decarbonized grid by providing situational awareness regarding energy adequacy amid an evolving resource mix.

With an increasingly clear view of the challenges ahead, we believe we are well-prepared to solve them in partnership with the region’s energy stakeholders.

Our growing knowledge bolsters the importance of balance across every aspect of our drive to support a successful, safe, and reliable clean energy transition. All four pillars must be robust—there is no path to a reliable, clean energy future without all four elements working in concert. That same balance is required from the partnership among the region’s energy stakeholders, with each—the ISO, policymakers, and market participants—doing their part to bring a shared vision for a greener future to fruition.

For ISO New England, our focus remains on ensuring the power system is reliable throughout the transition, and that the wholesale electricity markets continue to support new technologies and industry innovations. The ISO’s Annual Work Plan details the key activities aimed at facilitating the continued safe and reliable transition to a greener grid, many of which have been discussed at a high level in this report.

ISO New England’s Annual Work Plan outlines major priorities and activities for the year that are designed to improve upon existing ISO systems, practices, and services to New England. It underscores the ISO’s and the region’s continued focus on advancing a reliable clean energy transition through innovation and collaboration.

ISO New England is studying the future power system on multiple fronts as our teams of experts in operations, competitive markets, and system planning prepare to manage a grid growing rapidly in size and complexity. We have a proud history of progress and innovation, as well as performing research to help all the region’s energy stakeholders better understand the emerging risks that could impact our grid. We are committed to helping the region achieve its policy goals: electric power that’s reliable and clean.

Toward that end, we are making significant investments in the growth and diversification of our workforce to meet the needs of the clean energy transition. Our employee base will evolve alongside the region’s power system, expanding to meet increased stakeholder and policymaker expectations, and building our capabilities in technology, innovation, and research. We will need more employees with the required skillsets to help address the significant market design changes and operational and planning complexities needed to support a greener grid.

We also believe it is important, as the pace of the transition accelerates, to help all the region’s citizens better understand how the electric power system is going to change, and the impact they can expect. That’s why we launched “We are ISO New England,” our first-ever public awareness and education campaign. Understanding that the future power system will require more active engagement from citizens, the campaign seeks to educate them about the ISO, its role facilitating progress toward public policy goals, and the limits of its responsibilities and authority.

The path to the clean energy future is becoming clearer every day. As we get closer, we are gaining clarity on how best to prepare for it, using the four pillars as a consistent mechanism to assess the region’s readiness. But we also know that reaching a greener future depends on continued collaboration among the region’s energy stakeholders. We’re confident that, together, we can achieve the right balance of resources and policies to support the four pillars and deliver a clean, reliable electric power system for New England.