Where We’re Going

The New England states’ goals to reduce carbon emissions and promote energy affordability play a part in the ongoing evolution of the region’s power system.

ISO New England’s vision statement — “To harness the power of competition and advanced technologies to reliably plan and operate the grid as the region transitions to clean energy” — is a pledge to work within the limits of our jurisdiction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the states, market participants, and other regional stakeholders to support reliability at competitive prices as the grid evolves.

New England’s energy landscape is changing — fast.

Tomorrow’s grid will look different to the one we have today. Three broad trends capture how the power system is expected to change in the decades ahead.

clean energy

Intermittent energy resources like wind and solar that depend on the weather to generate electricity will continue to increase, as will battery storage resources that often charge directly from wind and solar.

distributed resources

Distributed resources such as behind-the-meter solar, which the ISO’s system operators cannot dispatch or monitor in real time, will satisfy a growing share of New England’s electricity consumption.

demand

Demand will grow as more residents use electricity to power vehicles and heat homes and businesses. Electric heating will shift the power system’s annual peak from summer to winter.

We’re facilitating the evolution of our region’s electric grid.

Responding to changes in the grid is a shared responsibility requiring close coordination among all the region’s energy stakeholders. For example, ISO New England does not have the authority to decide what kinds of generating resources are built, where they are located, or how quickly development happens. But through our three critical roles as grid operators, market administrators, and power system planners, we’re doing our part to ensure our region is ready for the changes ahead.

Operating an Increasingly Complex System

  • We’re making advancements in our modeling and forecasting tools to account for changing patterns of electricity use.
  • We’re investing in sophisticated operational tools to support our ability to manage a grid powered by more weather-dependent resources.
  • Our ongoing work to collect and analyze data on distributed energy resources will facilitate the integration of these important players in a decarbonizing grid.
  • Instruments such as our innovative Probabilistic Energy Adequacy Tool (PEAT) identify and help our region respond to periods when electricity supply is at risk of falling short of demand.

Evolving Markets for an Evolving Grid

  • Changes to the regional capacity auction are underway to better ensure power system reliability and cost-efficiency. The changes will create an auction process that supports decision making based on seasonal reliability needs and the latest supply and demand forecasts, and and will establish apples-to-apples comparisons between many different resource types.
  • The newly-established Day-Ahead Ancillary Services market helps procure sufficient energy and reserves.
  • Our implementation of FERC Order No. 2222 is broadening opportunities for distributed energy resources to participate in the wholesale electricity markets.

Planning for the Future Grid

Go Deeper

We’re building on past progress.

ISO New England has kept pace with the evolving grid for the past two decades:

  • Our competitive, technology-neutral markets have facilitated the orderly exit of older resources and the entry of thousands of megawatts of renewable resources, battery storage, energy efficiency, and demand response — all while maintaining the reliable flow of electricity each New Englander depends on.
  • These changes in the resource mix have helped drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions from the power system fell about 40% in this century’s first two decades, and declines in nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide were even more dramatic.
  • We were the first grid operator to develop multi-state, 10-year forecasts of energy efficiency and distributed solar as well as electrification of transportation and heating forecasts.
  • Our sophisticated studies and analyses, often conducted in response to requests from the states and other stakeholders, examine the challenges and opportunities of the future New England grid.
  • Since 2002, the ISO’s work to identify transmission system needs has helped guide major transmission upgrades in all six New England states to support reliability.

We’re committed to regional collaboration.

ISO New England is evolving alongside the power system. Through our innovative work in operations, forecasting, market development, information technology, and other areas, we support a changing grid.

But we can’t do it alone. Policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers all have a role to play. With multiple policy priorities spanning state and federal jurisdictions, this is a transformative and critical time for our region’s bulk power system. At the ISO, we remain committed to working with all stakeholders to help address the challenges of today, tomorrow, and beyond.