‘Power Forward’ initiative aims to build housing faster, lower costs

The Healey-Driscoll administration is partnering with the state’s two largest electric utilities – Eversource and National Grid – to launch Power Forward, an initiative to get housing connected to the electric grid faster.

Power Forward will support municipalities in evaluating electric grid capacity in areas that are primed for development, with the goal of bringing more housing online as quickly, efficiently and affordably as possible.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced the initiative during Connect 351 on Jan. 24. She said Power Forward is one of several collaborative efforts between state agencies, local officials, utilities and developers to meet the state’s urgent housing needs.

The administration said the program will make it “easier and more affordable to get new housing connected to our grid, which means getting people in homes faster.”

“Developers have told us limited grid capacity and long timelines create real challenges for getting the housing we need built,” Driscoll said.

She added that Power Forward will give developers and municipalities “the early information they need to make informed decisions about where to build and how to get needed housing projects online quickly.”

Power Forward is intended to help streamline planning and provide greater clarity on the infrastructure costs needed for electrification.

Housing and real estate developers, municipalities, and businesses currently face a complex and evolving process to connect new development projects to the electric grid, according to the administration. It can be challenging and time-consuming for developers to understand where there is grid capacity and how much it will cost to connect to the grid. Developers must pay for studies to determine precisely how much electricity is available at a site and what grid upgrades — such as new transformers, distribution lines and substation upgrades — are needed to safely connect their project. This process can take anywhere from several weeks to multiple years, depending on the project scope, and can add significant time and costs to much-needed housing developments.

“Municipalities across Massachusetts know well that our clean energy future needs a strong partnership between local governments, state government, and our utilities to provide clean, reliable service to our residents and businesses,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “The MMA appreciates the Power Forward initiative, announced at our annual conference for municipal leaders, as an important opportunity to make progress in the Commonwealth.”

Power Forward details
Power Forward will conduct advanced grid studies for cities and towns, providing a clear pathway to evaluate where new affordable, energy-efficient housing can be built quickly and cost-effectively.

Dedicated project managers at the utilities will support municipalities in understanding grid readiness and what upgrades are needed to advance projects submitted through Power Forward.

The Department of Energy Resources will also support up to 60 advanced grid studies over the next two years for designated municipalities.

Both utilities and the DOER will provide additional information and resources on Power Forward, including a webinar for municipal officials, this spring — in advance of accepting applications in April.

Other improvements
The administration and all three investor-owned utilities — Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil — also announced the launch of several other resources and efforts aimed at further streamlining and standardizing the grid connection process.

Eversource has launched a new, online tool to identify real-time grid capacity at the parcel level within its service territory. National Grid also hosts a real-time grid capacity map online. Eversource and National Grid will hold an event for municipal leaders on Feb. 27 at noon to demonstrate the maps’ capabilities and how municipalities can use them.

All three utilities now have a “Step Zero” offering, which provides customers with detailed information on available grid capacity at a site prior to submitting a new service request. All three utilities also have processes to enable customers to escalate delays or other pain points in the new service connection process to the correct utility supervisor or leadership team member.

Eversource and National Grid will hold a webinar for municipal officials on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. to explain the grid connection process and answer questions.

Resources
A new one-stop website offers information on these initiatives and more about the customer grid connection process, providing easy-to-understand information on the connection process, frequently asked questions, and links to relevant utility websites and tools, including the utilities’ grid capacity maps.

The administration also established the “Electric Connections Improvements Forum,” which will bring the utilities, developers, state agencies, and other stakeholders together semi-annually to address issues in the grid connection process and develop solutions. The first two Electric Connections Improvements Forums will be held on March 17 and Sept. 15 at 100 Cambridge St. in Boston. More information on the forums is on the new grid connection website.

The administration said its proposed Energy Affordability, Independence and Innovation Act would also improve the grid connection processes for new development by creating processes to proactively identify and build utility infrastructure to facilitate economic development and housing, further integrating economic development needs into ongoing grid-planning efforts. The legislation would also require electric utilities to provide flexible interconnection solutions to reduce customer costs and timelines for interconnection, at no cost to other customers.