Already a Subscriber? Log in
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article
Eversource has been tentatively selected for $47.7 million in federal funding for a $95.5 million project that would let its existing transmission lines carry more electricity.
Eversource is partnering on the project with Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering. It would use sensors, weather forecasting and software to show grid operators when power lines can safely carry more electricity than their standard limits allow.
The project, which Eversource calls the DREAM initiative, would cover about 4,000 miles of Eversource transmission lines in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including roughly 1,840 miles in Connecticut, an Eversource spokesperson said. Work would begin in 2027.
The project was one of 31 selected in 26 states under the Department of Energy’s Speed to Power program. DOE documents list Hartford as the project’s primary location.
Federal funds would cover half the project’s cost. Eversource said any approved costs not covered by the federal award would be shared by customers across the region through the transmission portion of their electric bills, the same way other regional transmission costs are handled.
Eversource says the investment would pay off for customers. Squeezing more out of existing lines could, under certain conditions, delay or avoid the need to build some new transmission lines, which would cost significantly more, according to the company. It also could reduce outages and the extra costs that build up when crowded lines can’t move power where it’s needed.
“As demand for electricity continues to grow, the DREAM initiative will help us maximize the capability of our existing transmission system,” said Bill Quinlan, Eversource’s president of transmission.
Transmission costs have been a sore point for Connecticut ratepayers. New England as a whole has the highest transmission costs of any regional grid system in the country.
