This week, a coalition of New England states announced a call for project proposals to secure federal funding and advance regional collaboration on grid infrastructure. The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), the Maine Governor’s Energy Office, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, the New Hampshire Department of Energy, and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, with support from the Vermont Department of Public Service, issued an Invitational Call for Innovative Project Design Concepts to solicit proposals for an anticipated second round of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Innovation Program (GIP) funding.
“Connecticut is excited to invite stakeholder proposals for projects that will make our electricity grid more affordable, reliable, and clean, in partnership with our sister New England states,” said Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. “In pursuing federal Grid Innovation Program funding, we further seek to ensure that underserved and overburdened communities benefit from these investments to transform and modernize our grid.”
The GIP, administered through DOE’s $10.5B Grid Resilience & Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, is intended to fund projects that improve grid reliability and resilience using advanced technologies and innovative partnerships and approaches. The deadline to submit concepts is October 20.
Earlier this year, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, with support from New Hampshire and Vermont, submitted a concept paper to DOE for a Joint State Innovation Partnership for Offshore Wind. The concept, submitted during the first round of the GIP, proposed an integrated and expandable transmission network off New England’s coast to interconnect thousands of megawatts of offshore wind.
