By: Wilson Ring, Associated Press
Companies designing projects to bring clean electricity to southern New England say they’re grateful Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island have finally made a request for proposals to carry that power to the region.
But meeting the region’s longer-term goal of expanding the use of renewable electricity from wind, solar and hydroelectricity will require more transmission capacity than the states requested, said Edward Krapels, the CEO of Anbaric Transmission, which is proposing one project in Maine and another Vermont.
“Having several states work together is just very constructive and allows larger-scale renewable projects to get built, and we like that,” Krapels said Tuesday.
The southern New England states are looking for clean renewable energy as part of a broader effort to reduce electricity costs and provide reliable sources of power as other aging power plants go offline. The region’s governors committed to working together in 2013.
“The aggressive carbon reduction targets that all of the states have really committed to does require a super-regional perspective,” said Marc Montalvo, the president of Daymark Energy Advisors of Boston. “The ability to take advantage of the most economic sources of low-carbon power is a smart and sensible thing to do.”
Article originally appears in Associated Press