PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 3, 2024
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month addressed long-term transmission planning for the first time as the grid faces what will be an “unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity” at the same time more storms threaten the reliability of electricity. Huge drivers of increased demand for electricity are happening—greater use of electric heat pumps and electric vehicles, manufacturers returning to the U.S. from overseas—while severe storms are coming faster and fiercer. New England has begun looking at how the regional grid can adapt to change; the region’s grid operator has filed a proposal with FERC. But the region has a “way to go” before it can expand transmission lines and rights of way. A transmission line to bring power generated by a wind farm in northern Maine was rejected by state regulators in December over cost differences.