Posted on August 7, 2024
REP. CHEESEMAN HAILS $389 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR CONNECTICUT AND NEW ENGLAND STATES TO FUND TRANSFORMATIONAL TRANSMISSION AND ENERGY STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
States Selected for Highly Competitive Funds for Offshore Wind Points of Interconnection in Southeastern Connecticut and Massachusetts and Multi-Day Storage in Northern Maine
NEW LONDON, STATE PIER – State Rep. Holly Cheeseman (R-37) joined state and local leaders to announce final federal approval by the by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the Power Up New England Project funding under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program.
Power Up represents a significant and transformational investment in clean energy transmission and storage infrastructure to improve grid reliability, accelerate renewable energy integration, and reduce energy burdens across New England.
Power Up features the deployment of an integrated portfolio of replicable, grid-benefitting technologies across multiple utility service territories. With federal funding support from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
In March, Reps. Holly Cheeseman and Kathleen McCarty wrote a letter of support to the U.S. Department of Energy in support of the Power Up project, and specifically Eversource’s Eastern Connecticut POI for prioritizing fair, transparent, and meaningful engagement with impacted and disadvantaged communities.
“I am grateful that this Power Up Project has received the approval to move forward and will be a key to advancing New England’s goal to interconnect offshore wind to the grid, increasing grid resilience, and bringing clean energy to the communities who need it most,” said Rep. Holly Cheeseman, a member of the Energy and Technology Committee. The project also includes the construction of a new switching station in Montville and connecting that switching station to the existing transmission grid in the area. This investment will be a valuable addition to the property tax base in Montville, which will certainly benefit the taxpayers.”
One element of Power Up is Eversource’s proposal to enable interconnection of 2,400 MW of offshore wind by installing a new point of interconnection (POI) for offshore wind in Eastern Connecticut.
The Eversource’s Eastern Connecticut POI will provide benefits to our Southeastern Connecticut communities, including the creation of clean energy jobs and training programs, reducing New England’s dependency on fossil fuels, increased reliability, infrastructure to support resilience, and enable the interconnection of renewable energy sources such as offshore wind that are developing in our area.