Connecticut Congressional Delegation and Governor Lamont Hail $389 Million Federal Grant for Connecticut and New England States to Fund Transformational Transmission and Energy[...]

Hartford, CT - Today, members of the Connecticut Congressional Delegation and Governor Ned Lamont applauded the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) announcement selecting the Power Up New England proposal submitted by Connecticut and its neighboring New England states to receive an award of up to $389 million through the second round of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's competitive Grid Innovation Program (GIP).

Power Up features significant investments in regional electric infrastructure, including proactive upgrades to points of interconnection in Southeast Massachusetts and Southeast Connecticut to ready the onshore transmission system for up to 4,800 megawatts of additional offshore wind. Power Up will also deploy an innovative, multi-day battery energy storage system in Northern Maine to enhance grid resilience and optimize the delivery of renewable energy. Together, these investments will provide the New England region with access to thousands of megawatts of offshore wind, greater resource diversity, and increased reliability while lowering consumer costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"Today's funding announcement supports Connecticut's continued leadership in clean energy generation," U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) said. "Together, with this funding, the New England region will be able to address climate change, create good-paying jobs, and harness the power of offshore wind to advance our clean energy goals. We will continue to pursue progress and paths toward resilient power grids and the continuous delivery of clean energy while also lowering energy costs for American families."

"We are thrilled that the U.S. Department of Energy has selected Connecticut and our neighboring New England states' Power Up New England application for a competitive grid innovation grant," Governor Lamont said. "This selection is a strong endorsement of the New England states' longstanding, cooperative approach to solving our region's grid challenges, including through new and innovative technologies like offshore wind and long-duration storage that will enable us to equitably and affordably transition to a cleaner and more reliable grid."

"As the catastrophic storm in Simsbury showed last weekend, severe weather events - increasing in number and intensity - require stronger action," U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said. "This transformative investment of up to $389 million will strengthen our grid and power system to reduce these outages, while advancing our goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding clean energy, and lowering costs for consumers. I will continue fighting for investments to strengthen and make our grid more resilient."

"Connecticut residents need lower energy costs and more reliable electricity," U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) said. "This $389 million Grid Innovation Program award, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will prepare points of interconnection between our region's thriving offshore wind industry and the grid to deliver clean power and lower costs to homes and businesses across New England."

"One of our most important tools in the fight against the existential threat of climate change is investing in our energy resources," U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) said. "I am glad Connecticut will receive funding from the Grid Innovation Program to improve our grid and resilience in the face of climate change."

"Power Up New England represents a transformational, bold vision to enhance the reliability of our regional electric grid and bring consumers' electric rates down," U.S. Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) said. "Only by updating our transmission infrastructure and energy storage capacity will we be able to harness the full potential of Northeast offshore wind. This grant will allow us to do just that, connecting our state - and New England - to new sources of clean energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering consumers' electric bills."

"Power Up New England is about more than incorporating energy generated by offshore wind, it also supports underinvested communities by creating good-paying jobs and scholarship opportunities for those who would benefit the most," U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) said. "This is a first step in increasing the amount of renewable energy we use to power our homes and communities. I am grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for their continued leadership on climate action."

"The U.S. Department of Energy's selection of Power Up New England, which comes on the heels of our recent New England Heat Pump Accelerator Coalition award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is another big win for Connecticut and our sister New England states that reflects our region's commitment to innovation and DEEP's successful strategy of leveraging federal funding to achieve our state's clean energy goals in an affordable manner," Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes said. "Power Up's transmission upgrades will lower the cost of future offshore wind projects by providing new ready-made points on the grid for these projects to plug in reliably and affordably. Power Up's multi-day storage project will help our region demonstrate and deploy this new technology to help balance intermittent resources and utilize clean energy to its fullest extent. Collectively, these projects will contribute to DEEP's mission to make cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy available for the residents and businesses of our state."

State Senator Norm Needleman (D-Essex), co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, said, "Today's funding announcement is the result of a great effort on the part of Governor Lamont, Commissioner Dykes, and the legislature and its efforts to continue to pursue regional initiatives to improve our electric grid and make it ready for offshore wind and other renewables that are going to be coming on stream."

"Connecticut's energy future is predicated on the expansion of zero-carbon generation sources like solar and wind," State Representative Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport), co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, said, "The federal dollars will go a long way to facilitating that transition, including the build out of a robust transmission infrastructure network to distribute these new resources and maintain a resilient electric grid. This is a big win for Connecticut and the region."

"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," State Representative Holly Cheeseman (R-East Lyme, Montville, Salem), a member of the Energy and Technology Committee, said. "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."

Maria Robinson, director of the Grid Deployment Office for the U.S. Department of Energy, said, "Extreme weather events fueled by climate change will continue to strain the nation's aging transmission systems, but the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda will ensure America's power grid can provide reliable, affordable power. The projects selected today will catalyze nearly $10 billion total in public and private investment to increase the capacity of our existing transmission system by leveraging innovative grid technologies and solutions. We look forward to working with the New England States as we support projects that will harden systems, improve energy reliability and affordability - all while generating union jobs for highly skilled workers."

Power Up prioritizes disadvantaged communities in the region to ensure that they benefit from the infrastructure investments needed to support clean energy development - a priority for DOE and state energy offices. Power Up will uplift disadvantaged communities through high-quality jobs and workforce development and training opportunities, including more than $9 million in scholarships, the creation of nearly 500 high-quality jobs, and a total community benefit investment of roughly $18 million.

The portion of the Community Benefits Plan directly impacting Connecticut includes $4 million to establish the Connecticut Institute for Clean Energy at the University of Connecticut. The Institute will help to expand the sustainable energy workforce in the state and region through scholarships, real-world engagement on offshore wind projects, and certificate programs relating to offshore wind, with a particular focus on engagement with individuals from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds. A further $1 million will be allocated for direct community benefits to the host communities, focusing on the key principles of community and labor engagement, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and the Justice40 Initiative.

GIP is administered through DOE's $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program to fund projects that improve grid reliability and resilience using advanced technologies and innovative partnerships and approaches. The typical maximum award per project is $250 million, however, as a significant transmission investment, Power Up qualifies for a higher award amount. In the first round of GIP, only one project received an award greater than $250 million.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Maine Governor's Energy Office, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the New Hampshire Department of Energy, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, and the Vermont Department of Public Service submitted Power Up into the second round of DOE's GIP in April 2024. The application was supported by Power Up's project developers Form Energy, Eversource Energy, and National Grid.

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