New England’s power plants and
transmission lines are interconnected to deliver electricity
from power plants to customers across the region. Private companies
sell power into a regional competitive electricity market while
companies like National Grid own and
operate the regional transmission system. Substations contain transformers to convert electricity from the higher transmission voltages to the lower distribution line voltages that serve homes and businesses.
A strong 345–kV bulk power system ensures
that power can be efficiently and economically moved longer distances
from power sources (including renewable sources) to the locations
where it is needed.
ISO-NE Planning Process
ISO-NE is
a not-for-profit regional transmission organization (RTO) authorized
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to coordinate the
entire interdependent system of power plants and transmission
lines, and administer New England's competitive markets for electric power
supply. ISO-NE also manages transmission interconnections to
NY, Quebec and New Brunswick that carry power in and out of New
England as needed. To effectively carry out its charge, ISO-NE,
its Board of Directors and 400 employees have no financial interest
or ties to any company doing business in the region's wholesale
electricity marketplace.
In keeping with its system responsibilities, ISO-NE led the
system planning that eventually led to the identification of
the Interstate Reliability Project
