In today’s Boston Globe, Gordon van Welie, the President and CEO of ISO New England, stated that although his operation has been working for over ten years to integrate clean energy resources, “there remains much work to do and challenges to overcome.”
Welie says the “region will need to make significant investments in building critical infrastructure," including transmission lines, and the siting of dozens electric substations “in a region notorious for difficult siting processes.” He also maintains the electric grid and existing power plants will need all “fuel sources” to provide critical energy needs.
And Welie provided support for a key message that MEMA been trying to deliver to lawmakers, policymakers and the media for several years. Welie states, “Regional transportation and heating initiatives to switch to battery-powered cars and replace gas and oil furnaces with electric heat pumps are expected to double electricity demand. That means the region will not only need to build enough clean resources to replace existing fossil fuel plants, but also meet the added demand.”
Read the complete Boston Globe editorial here.
