Newsroom & Public Notices

RFI to address gaps in transmission planning and promote solutions that offer significant grid and consumer benefits

TRENTON— New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) joined eight Northeast states in issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking interregional transmission project concepts that would improve grid reliability, support economic growth, and reduce costs for consumers. The RFI was issued by the bipartisan Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission, a group formed in 2023 to fill a gap in today’s interregional transmission planning processes.

“Increasing the flow of electricity between our regions has the potential to reduce costs for consumers and make our energy systems more secure and reliable. This is a great step towards achieving those goals and we are proud to be part of the effort,” said NJBPU President Christine-Guhl-Sadovy. “It is very encouraging to see this RFI from the Northeast States Collaborative to gather ideas on how we can collaborate on mutually beneficial interregional transmission projects.”

The RFI is the first step in identifying and exploring potential interregional transmission projects between the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic electricity planning regions: ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM Interconnection. The RFI invites interested entities, including industry representatives, ratepayer advocates, utilities, and independent transmission developers, to submit concept papers on beneficial interregional transmission project opportunities by October 23, 2025.

In 2023, New Jersey joined a request to the U.S. Department of Energy to convene a multi-state group – called the Northeast States Collaborative on Interregional Transmission – in a first-in-the-nation effort to explore mutually beneficial opportunities to increase the flow of electricity between the ISO New England, New York ISO, and PJM Interconnection planning regions.

The Collaborative includes New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Last summer, the multi-state group signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a framework for coordinating its activities and identified this strategic action plan as a critical next step.

The Collaborative has engaged relevant federal agencies and organizations with technical expertise to identify and assess shared areas of focus for interregional transmission cooperation and coordination. In April 2025, the Collaborative issued a strategic action plan that identifies specific steps that state, regional, and federal policymakers can take to pursue interregional transmission solutions to reduce costs for consumers and make our energy systems more secure. The plan outlines a range of actions over the next several years to improve interregional transmission planning processes across the three grid planning regions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The plan also identifies transmission equipment standardization as a key strategy to reduce the cost of transmission development.

About the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) 

NJBPU is a state agency and regulatory authority mandated to ensure safe, adequate and proper utility services at reasonable rates for New Jersey customers. Critical services regulated by NJBPU include natural gas, electricity, water, wastewater, telecommunications and cable television. The Board has general oversight and responsibility for monitoring utility service, responding to consumer complaints, and investigating utility accidents. To find out more about NJBPU, visit our website at www.nj.gov/bpu.