Project Locations & Information > New England East-West Solution : New England East-West Solution (NEEWS)

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New England East-West Solution (NEEWS) is four related transmission projects developed by a working group of planners from Northeast Utilities, National Grid and ISO-New England.

Together the four projects are needed to solve existing problems with the transmission system. These problems threaten the transmission system’s ability to meet national and regional reliability standards and assure the adequacy and availability of electric power.

The problems were identified by ISO-New England in its regional planning process. They are:

• Limitations to east-west movement of electricity on the New England power grid
• Weaknesses in transmission around Springfield, MA, a major interstate transmission hub
• Limitations to moving electricity across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• Rhode Island’s dependence on single transmission lines or autotransformers for reliability
• Limitations to the power that can flow from east to west within Connecticut

Each of these problems poses a threat to the reliability of electric power in southern New England and the region overall. These problems also negatively affect our ability to benefit from access to cleaner, competitively priced electric power.

ISO-New England determined that ongoing energy conservation efforts, plus new power plants and new transmission are all needed to meet the region’s electricity demand. Specifically, the planning process concluded that additional transmission lines were needed to solve the five problems outlined above.

See a video (539 kbps, Approx. 8 mins, 50 secs.)  in which community, business, labor and environmental leaders in Connecticut and Massachusetts explain why NEEWS is needed and the benefits that can be expected.

HOW THE PROJECTS WERE SELECTED

ISO-New England, Northeast Utilities and National Grid (the utility serving eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island) conducted technical evaluations to determine how 7,000 possible solution combinations would perform during normal, peak and possible outage scenarios and how those options would support future flexibility. The evaluations identified four transmission projects as the best-performing, least-cost, practical options.

ISO-New England’s planning process considered these factors:

• Load growth
• Load reduction through energy conservation
• Planned and operating power plants
• Environmental impacts including air quality
• How to maximize regional benefit at the lowest possible cost
• Support for a competitive market for electricity

Collectively called the New England East-West Solution, the main components of the four projects are 345-kilovolt (kV) high-voltage lines. They also include upgrades to substations and improvements to the region's 115-kV electric system. The specific projects are:

• The Greater Springfield Reliability Project
• The Interstate Reliability Project
• The Rhode Island Reliability Project
• The Central Connecticut Reliability Project

These four projects solve all five ISO-New England-identified problems. When complete, they will provide stronger interconnections across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and allow more power to be moved between east and west in New England. This will provide Northeast Utilities customers with more dependable power and pave the way for a growing use of cleaner, cheaper power and renewable energy resources.