"Transitioning to the Future Grid in Massachusetts" Event Series
Hear from meeting organizers about the event series.
In 2024, MassCEC, in partnership with ACT (formally known as NECEC), conducted an event series “Transitioning to the Future Grid in Massachusetts”. Over three days, starting in March 2024 and ending in September 2024, MassCEC brought together over three hundred diverse stakeholders from across the grid landscape. Stakeholders represented:
- Public and private sectors
- Electric distribution companies (EDCs)
- Municipal light plants (MLPs)
- Technology providers and entrepreneurs
- Community-based organizations
- Academic institutions
These events achieved the goals of convening stakeholders around future grid challenges, developing ideas for solutions and next steps, and of creating space to foster new and standing relationships. At MassCEC, we believe that the achievement of grid innovation is dependent on how well we all collaborate as grid stakeholders. There is still a lot of work to do to foster inclusive collaboration and MassCEC is committed to growing our support in this space.
Over the course of the series, attendees developed a set of recommendations on how Massachusetts can approach the challenges that the transition to the future grid presents. The recommendations focused on three areas:
- Incentive Based Regulation
- Fostering Adoption of Gridtech
- Democratizing Grid Planning
The recommendations will be finalized in November 2024.
Developing a Grid Services & Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) Compensation Method
Developing a Grid Services &
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)
Compensation Method
MassCEC seeks to understand how DERs can provide services that help reduce the overall cost of the energy transition.
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DERs play a critical role in the grid by providing a range of possible services, including capacity relief, infrastructure deferral and avoidance, voltage support, among others.
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Today, untapped opportunities exist to connect and utilize DERs as a flexible resource to respond to location-specific needs. However, for DERs to provide value to the distribution grid, we must determine the appropriate, effective level of compensation for DERs providing grid services.
MassCEC is supporting the creation of a Massachusetts-specific, statewide compensation mechanism for DERs providing services to the distribution grid.
Net Zero Grid Planning Lab
To accelerate the planning process in Massachusetts while exploring ways to reduce the costs of transitioning to a net zero grid, MassCEC engaged technical consultants and software startups through the NZG Planning Lab. Through first-of-its-kind analysis and innovative software tools, these experts are assessing current distribution system barriers and opportunities, conducting load forecasts based on decarbonization scenarios, and demonstrating novel distribution system planning tools, protocols, and emerging technologies that will further grid decarbonization goals in a cost-effective manner.
Distributed Energy Resources Dispatch Study
Project Background
The Commonwealth’s path to Net Zero by 2050 requires significant electrification of the transportation and building sectors accompanied by large-scale deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). As a result, the Electric Distribution Companies (EDCs) must rapidly expand and upgrade the distribution grid to accommodate numerous new loads and distributed sources of electricity generation. MassCEC’s Net Zero Grid Distribution Planning Lab sought to quantify the approximate cost of this expansion and upgrade, while identifying promising opportunities to limit that cost. Building on this collaboration with the EDCs, MassCEC now seeks to understand how existing and future customer-owned DERs on the distribution grid can provide services that help reduce the overall cost of the energy transition.
About DER Dispatch Study
In September 2022, MassCEC released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for its Value of Distributed Energy Resources for Distribution System Grid Services study and selected Baringa Partners LLP to lead the project in December 2022. The motivation for this study was to explore grid services as a tool that can help reduce the overall cost of the energy transition.
The resulting report assesses the potential value of DERs to the distribution grid by creating an integrated set of frameworks to explore the provision of grid services by DERs. This report is a starting place for EDCs, policy makers, and DER stakeholders to understand how to value DERs, a foundational step in developing a statewide solution for expanded utilization of DERs as grid resources.
Research and Innovation
Background
MassCEC supports collaborations between Massachusetts grid-owners, operators, startups, and researchers that help the Commonwealth meet the mandates of the Global Warming Solutions Act. Better integrating renewable energy sources and protecting the grid from extreme weather events are examples of the topics addressed.
About NewGrid
NewGrid is a startup that is devising solutions for grid congestion and the integration of renewables. It previously received funding from MassCEC's InnovateMass program. With additional MassCEC funding, NewGrid is expanding the applications of its NewGrid Router transmission topology optimization technology by developing key practical software features and demonstrating them for the Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE). This project builds upon NewGrid’s current ISO-NE demonstration project and will increase the flexibility and resiliency of Massachusetts’ grid.