The New England power grid is run by an entity called the “Independent Systems Operator - New England”, which you’ll usually see written as ISO-NE. ISO-NE goes to great lengths to say that they are a neutral player in the energy market, and that they rely on state governments to set policy that sets what kinds of sources New England’s electricity comes from.
However, recently a group of New England Senators wrote to ISO-NE to point out that they are not supporting the climate and environmental goals of the region’s governments.
A flagrant example of this is the way that “Forward Capacity Payments” are used to subsidize fossil fuels on the grid in the name of “grid reliability”. The Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire received $50 Million in subsidies in 2018 alone in order to keep their dirty climate changing emissions pouring into the atmosphere and poisoning those who live nearby, and ISO-NE has committed tens of millions of dollars more over the next several years.
That isn’t neutral, that is actively choosing to support burning coal with the money from all of us who pay electrical bills. As we continue our campaign to shut down Merrimack Station, we’ll continue to push against the inherent bias of ISO-NE for supporting climate changing fossil fuel plants.
You can check out the senators’ letter below. And if you want to take action around ISO, we are working with partners around New England who are launching a grassroots campaign this winter to focus on ISO-NE’s dereliction of duty. In the meantime if you’re excited to get your pen moving, why not write ISO-NE a message or give a ring to their external affairs team. Or you could pen a letter to the editor of your local paper, letting your community know that you don’t want your electrical bill subsidizing old dinosaur coal fired power plants that are pouring fuel on the fire of climate catastrophe. Those dollars could be better used building the distributed renewable generation of the future.
