Press Release  Massachusetts and Northeast Partners Announce Recommendations to Advance Offshore Transmission Solutions

Boston — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today joined eight Northeast states to announce three landmark reports on technical standards and policy recommendations for advancing the deployment of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) technologies and standards for multi-state offshore transmission networks. The reports were developed by the Planning Offshore Interregional Network Standardization (POINTS) Consortium — a research consortium launched in 2025 to develop best practices and harmonized standards for offshore transmission planning and development. The reports lay the technical and policy foundation for a unified, interoperable offshore transmission grid along the U.S. Atlantic Coast that will reduce costs and promote reliability.

“Massachusetts is continuing to work with Atlantic states to support our offshore wind industry – and that means developing strategies for coordinated transmission investment among states,” said Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “As offshore wind deployment continues along the East Coast, developing common technical standards for transmission infrastructure will help reduce costs, improve coordination across regions, and bring us closer to a more integrated offshore transmission network.”

“These reports represent an important step toward ensuring states, grid operators, and industry are working from a shared framework to help accelerate offshore wind deployment and unlock broad consumer benefits,” said Weezie Nuara, Massachusetts Deputy Secretary for Federal and Regional Energy Affairs. “We are grateful to the POINTS Consortium for its work in charting a clearer path toward interregional coordination and offshore transmission planning.”

In 2023, Massachusetts led a request to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to convene the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission to explore mutually beneficial opportunities to increase the flow of electricity between the ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM Interconnection planning regions. In 2024, the Collaborative issued a memorandum of understanding to organize its activities, and last year, the group issued a strategic action plan to set near- and mid-term priorities. This plan called for a standardized approach to offshore transmission equipment to ensure states could cost-effectively link offshore wind projects between regions.

The POINTS Consortium developed today’s recommendations with support from the U.S. DOE, technical experts, and other organizations. The research finds that greater coordination across transmission planning, procurement, equipment standardization, and modernized reliability frameworks can help reduce infrastructure costs, strengthen supply chains, improve grid reliability, and accelerate the deployment of offshore energy resources. The release of these reports represents a key milestone in advancing interregional transmission pathways that can maximize the benefits of offshore wind deployment for consumers while strengthening grid reliability and resilience across the Northeast. The POINTS Consortium will host a webinar on Thursday, June 25 at 12 p.m. to discuss the report’s key findings and recommendations. Registration information is available here.  

The Collaborative today also welcomes the District of Columbia (D.C.) with the release of an amended memorandum of understanding. D.C. joins Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont in coordinating collaborative efforts consistent with the group’s strategic action plan.

“The recommendations developed through the POINTS Consortium provide a practical roadmap for building offshore interregional transmission that will likely lower consumer costs, improve grid reliability, and help meet states’ energy needs and goals,” said Katie Dykes, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “By advancing common technical standards and coordinated planning today, states can reduce long-term costs, strengthen reliability, and maximize the value that future investments in offshore wind and other resources will deliver to consumers across the Northeast. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to the team leading the Consortium and the innumerable industry partners and other thought leaders who set aside time and resources to lend their expertise to this effort.”

“Maine has long valued regional coordination on transmission when it comes to identifying opportunities to lower costs and maximize benefits for the state,” said Celina Cunningham, Acting Commissioner, Maine Department of Energy Resources.  “These reports bring us closer to alignment on standards that will help reduce costs, increase reliability, and provide important information to inform future planning efforts related to meeting the region’s energy needs.”

“At a time when the federal government is doing all it can to sow chaos and disrupt our energy supply, New Jersey is committed to pursuing new generation, lowering costs, and laying a foundation to ensure the state is ready to act when the opportunity arises,” said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. "New Jersey pioneered the OTN Ready framework because we understood that regional coordination, standardization, and interoperability are essential to a strong energy future, particularly with offshore wind. These POINTS reports validate that instinct, and we're committed to doing the hard technical and policy work now so that New Jersey – and the region – is ready to move without delay when conditions change." 

"Rhode Island's energy future depends on transmission infrastructure that works across state and regional lines, and these reports give the Northeast a common technical playbook for getting there," said Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources Acting Commissioner Christopher Kearns. "Standardizing equipment, procurement, and reliability criteria now means lower costs and fewer delays when these projects move forward. Rhode Island is proud to work alongside our partner states on a more coordinated and affordable regional grid."

Statement of Support:

Liz Burdock, President and CEO of Oceantic Network: 

"Successfully unraveling the offshore transmission puzzle unlocks a scalable and predictable American energy industry that delivers real ratepayer savings and fosters a robust, domestic supply chain. The work done by the POINTS Consortium takes an enormous step towards a solution through the standardization of HVDC technologies and novel procurement frameworks, and by identifying specific, actionable steps that states can immediately begin incorporating into their energy policies. Now more than ever, it is critical that our industry continues its work addressing long-standing, structural market barriers. Oceantic Network and its members congratulate the Consortium on what will be foundational work for the future of a thriving U.S. offshore wind industry." 

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