When a new transmission line carrying Canadian hydropower into New England opened in mid-January, local officials celebrated it as a step toward a more reliable, affordable and greener grid.
Then the storm hit.
Electricity being carried along the line, known as New England Clean Energy Connect, abruptly stopped Saturday, a little over a week after the line began commercial operation. The interruption, which came as a massive winter storm bore down on the region, halted the flow of power for all but one hour Sunday, when the line briefly operated at half capacity. Shipments resumed at around 25 percent of capacity around 6 p.m. EST Monday.
Days earlier, officials from states that received the power celebrated the line for its promise of pushing down New England’s notoriously high wintertime electricity prices and displacing oil and gas generation.
But the power interruption over the weekend appeared to reopen arguments about shortcomings in the region’s electricity supply that have roiled New England for a decade. Some said the stoppage showed the need for more natural gas capacity, provided by new pipelines. Others said it confirmed their fears that the $1.6 billion transmission project would not be able to deliver power during periods of extreme weather.
“I hate to say it, but a lot of the issues and concerns that we have been talking about for years have played out this weekend,” said Dan Dolan, who leads the New England Power Generators Association. The trade group, which represents power plant owners, contested the line’s long-term fixed contract to sell electricity to Massachusetts utilities. “This is a very expensive contract for a product that predominantly comes in non-stressed periods in the winter,” he said.
New England policymakers have long worried about the six-state grid’s ability to withstand extreme winter weather. Gas accounts for about half of New England’s annual electricity generation, but the region’s pipeline capacity is relatively limited and is designed to serve both electricity and heating demand.
The hydro line was supposed to be part of the solution. It’s a centerpiece of Massachusetts’ strategy to cut climate pollution. In 2016, the state passed a law directing its utilities to purchase large amounts of offshore wind and hydro. The latter was seen as a reliable option to fill in the gaps of wind generation, and one that could relieve the stress on pipelines created by winter demand.
But the project quickly became controversial. Opposition was particularly fierce in Maine, where the line traverses northern woods and iconic local landmarks like the Appalachian Trail and the Kennebeck River Gorge, a whitewater site that’s popular with rafters. A majority of Mainers voted to rescind its permit in a ballot referendum; the decision was later reversed by the state’s highest court.
It also attracted opposition from power plant owners, who compete to sell electricity in New England’s wholesale market. They worried about being pushed out by a project with a 20-year contract. More specifically, they argued that Hydro-Quebec Energy Services, the provincial utility that would supply the power, would hold back electricity during periods of extreme cold to meet domestic demand.
The concerns were dismissed by Massachusetts utility regulators, who pointed to penalties in the contract for failing to deliver. They concluded that the penalties were sufficient to incentivize wintertime delivery.
Serge Abergel, chief operating officer of Hydro-Quebec, said the utility anticipates paying those penalties. The halt of exports reflected the extreme winter conditions in Quebec, where temperatures in Montreal hit a low of -9 degrees on Sunday as demand surged past 40,000 megawatts and flirted with the record of 43,000 MW set in 2023.
Most homes in Quebec are heated with electricity, a reflection of the province’s historically cheap power prices. That means demand surges when temperatures plunge. Electricity demand was so high over that weekend that power flows reversed over a second transmission line connecting Quebec to New England, with New England exporting electricity northward.
“This is the one event of the year that is most challenging for our business, when we’re peaking above 40,000 MW and it’s 10 below outside,” Abergel said.
He pushed back against the idea that the hydro line was not meeting its goals, noting that it’s contracted to supply 9.45 terrawatt-hours of electricity annually, or roughly 7 percent of New England’s power demand. The hydro line sells power at a contracted price of about $70 per megawatt-hour. That figure would be much higher if it was specifically designed to guarantee peak power needs, Abergel said.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise when demand is so high and temperatures are so cold,” he said.
‘We need a big portfolio’
The implications stretch beyond New England. New York is set to open its own transmission line in the spring, for carrying hydropower from Quebec into the heart of New York City. The new power lines represent the culmination of a decades-long push by Hydro-Quebec to increase exports to the Northeastern U.S., capitalizing on some of the highest electricity prices in North America.
But their completion comes amid a prolonged Canadian drought, which has reduced the amount of water coming through Quebec’s dams and reversed traditional power flows across the border. New England has exported electricity to Quebec in recent months, as Hydro-Quebec cuts back on spot sales into the region in an attempt to rebuild its reservoir levels. The situation has led to questions about Hydro-Quebec’s ability to deliver on its contracts.
Long-term, there is a recognition that Quebec needs more power-generating capacity to meet rising electricity demand, Abergel said. He noted that Hydro-Quebec is pursuing a plan to add 9,000 MW of new generating capacity by 2035. That will include onshore wind and hydro.
New England’s grid weathered the weekend storm without incident. While prices were elevated, briefly spiking to $800 per megawatt-hour Sunday, the regional grid operator issued only a low-level emergency alert directing power plant owners to be aware of the winter conditions.
Still, the episode could lead to more questions about the region’s electricity future. Offshore wind and Canadian hydro were supposed to serve as a one-two punch that would relieve stress on New England’s gas pipeline capacity while driving down climate pollution.
But offshore wind development has gone more slowly than the New England states anticipated, first because of inflation and supply chain constraints and later because of President Donald Trump’s opposition to wind turbines. The president has attempted to halt offshore wind projects under construction while promoting new natural gas pipelines.
That has emphasized the need for the hydro line to perform. The project steadily delivered about 1,100 MW of power during its first week of operation, amounting to from 6 percent to 8 percent of New England’s power needs, depending on demand levels. The presence of hydro imports led to a notable lack of oil generation in a cold week leading up to the storm.
“The NECEC line represents our all-of-the-above approach in action — working with regional partners to bring affordable energy into the state that will lower costs and meet our growing demand,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement celebrating the line reaching commercial operation earlier this month.
Maria Hardiman, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said the penalties paid by Hydro-Quebec would protect Bay State consumers. The contract requires Hydro-Quebec to pay the difference between its contract price and the price of power during periods when it fails to deliver.
“We are aware of the historic constraints on the Canadian grid due to the extreme cold,” she said in a statement. “Hydro-Quebec is facing steep penalties for each day they are not providing power to Massachusetts, and we know they are working to resume power as quickly as possible. Our contract ensures that ratepayers will still see lower priced electricity, regardless of the power flowing over the line.”
New England’s gas plants are equipped with oil backup. Many switch over to oil when gas prices spike. But once hydro imports disappeared Saturday, oil generation surged. The Energy Department approved an emergency order Sunday, allowing oil units and other plants in the region to operate in excess of their environmental permits to ensure reliable electricity supplies.
“It shows us that we need a big portfolio of different resources,” said Johannes Pfeifenberger, an analyst who tracks the power sector at the Brattle Group. “You’ve got solar, some battery storage, and offshore wind, which is good during the winter and gas with oil backup. That portfolio should get you to a reliable system.”
He noted that rooftop solar provided a significant amount of power during the cold, sunny days leading up to the storm’s arrival. New England wind generation hit 1,560 MW on Saturday night, the third-highest total on record, as temperatures across much of the region hovered around zero.
That figure was bolstered by generation from Vineyard Wind. Construction of the 800 MW offshore wind project was halted by Trump, but the administration has allowed power generation from the two-thirds of turbines already in operation to continue.
Its influence appeared in subtle ways over the weekend. Wind speeds were low onshore, but remained steady at sea throughout Sunday.
“Offshore wind was blowing very hard and producing a lot of power,” Pfeifenberger said.
Dolan of the New England Power Generators Association also praised offshore wind’s performance, saying it provided badly needed electrons during the storm. He also expressed hope that imports over the hydro line would resume soon, saying that the line’s power provides relief to the rest of the region’s grid.
The storm system showed that no single project can secure the grid, whether that is a transmission line or additional pipeline capacity, he said.
“The issue overall is there is no silver bullet, no single answer that will stabilize the system,” Dolan said. “This is a tight market, whether it is offshore wind or natural gas or increased imports, having more flexibility on the system can create more reliability and stability overall.”
This story also appears in Climatewire.
