Is New England’s new hydropower transmission line paying off?
When the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line started carrying electricity from Canada into Maine in January, supporters hailed the project as a triumph for renewable power. Now, after nearly six months of operations, the early numbers raise questions about whether the project will be able to advance the region’s energy transition as much as advertised.
Energy flow into New England is up just marginally, and there have been roughly 27 days when no power at all traveled along the new line, commonly called NECEC. If current trends hold, New England will receive less hydropower this year over two transmission lines than it did over just one line in 2023 and previous years.
“What we’ve seen so far is not what some people expected to see,” said Joseph LaRusso, manager of the Clean Grid Program at climate nonprofit Acadia Center.
Financially, New England customers should not be at risk from these ongoing shifts, LaRusso said. Massachusetts’ contract with Hydro-Québec includes provisions that require the Canadian company to pay financial penalties if it fails to deliver according to its contract.
“To the extent that imports are curtailed, Hydro-Québec is liable to make the electric utilities whole for the cost of replacement power,” LaRusso said.
It is less clear whether NECEC will boost Massachusetts’ renewable energy supply in the long run.
Still, the new transmission line has at times demonstrated its potential to help New England achieve a cleaner energy supply, LaRusso said. He pointed to May 16, a sunny day when solar power reduced demand on the grid and NECEC was going full tilt. Natural gas plants were running at low levels, and most of the power was heading to New York. For a short time, all the region’s power needs could be met by nonfossil fuel resources.
“Hypothetically, [grid operator] ISO New England could’ve turned off its gas generators,” LaRusso said. “It really gets you thinking of the resources available and how they could be managed and shared in the future.”
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