The U.S. Department of Public Utilities has issued two groundbreaking orders requiring Massachusetts electric distribution companies to modernize the electric grid.
The DPU’s order requires each utility to develop and implement a 10-year grid modernization plan, to be updated regularly. The grid modernization will provide several benefits including:
- Empowering customers to better manage and reduce electricity costs;
- Enhancing the reliability and resiliency of electricity service in the face of increasingly extreme weather;
- Encouraging innovation and investment in new technology and infrastructure, strengthening the competitive electricity market;
- Addressing climate change and meeting clean energy requirements by integrating more clean and renewable power, demand response, electricity storage, microgrids and electric vehicles, and providing for increased amounts of energy efficiency.
-tk-