On Friday, October 21 at 10:00 a.m., ISO New England will host a virtual briefing to present its recently released 2021 Economic Study: Future Grid Reliability Phase 1. The study evaluates how a 2040 grid could perform with a shift to largely renewable resources and a substantial increase in demand associated with electrification of the heating and transportation sectors.

The briefing is intended to make the findings of this report available to any interested members of the public. The session will be recorded and posted after the event for the convenience of those who cannot join on the date of the briefing. Please see instructions below on how to register and obtain information to access the virtual meeting. The audience will have opportunities to submit questions via chat during the virtual session.

In addition, a document summarizing the findings of the study was recently posted to the ISO website.

Background

The study investigates several potential scenarios for a future grid, developed by stakeholders. The resulting analysis produced takeaways in the areas of energy adequacy, resource and demand flexibility, and resource mix diversity that may help inform decision making as the region continues to move towards a transformed grid. The briefing, held via WebEx, is free and open to the general public. Registration is required to obtain the information needed to log into the webinar.

The final report, 2021 Economic Study: Future Grid Reliability is available on the ISO’s website and a short summary is available on the ISO’s Newswire. A summary document is also available.

In 2020, regional stakeholders requested the study to assess and discuss the future state of the regional power system in light of current state energy and environmental policies. Beginning in April 2020 and culminating in March 2021, the ISO met regularly with state and industry stakeholders to discuss and define a scope of work for the initiative.

The 2021 Economic Study: Future Grid Reliability evaluates the operational and reliability challenges of a future grid where supply resources are largely renewable and demand has increased substantially due to electrification of the heating and transportation sectors.

The October 21 briefing will highlight the findings of the study, including the operational and reliability challenges that were identified and will need to be addressed in the future grid, and possible ways to meet those needs.

Registration

To register for the briefing, please visit ISO-TEN, the online registration site for the ISO New England Training and Events Network. Information to access the webinar will be sent to those who register through ISO-TEN. If you are new to ISO-TEN, you will need to click the button to Register for an Account. There is no charge to set up an account. You will need to provide contact information (so we can send you information for your event) and establish a password.

Please contact ISO New England’s External Affairs team if you have any questions.