Program areas at ISO-NE
Iso New England Inc. (iso-ne) is the not-for-profit organization authorized by the federal government to perform three critical activities to ensure the reliable supply of electricity throughout New England. Through its first activity, energy administration, iso-ne ensures the constant availability of competitively priced electricity for the region's 15.1 million residents by designing, refining, and administering, in a fair and unbiased manner, the region's wholesale electricity markets. During 2023, iso-ne was responsible for the fair administration of approximately $6 billion of market transactions.
Through its third activity, scheduling services, iso-ne forecasts and schedules the electricity needed in the region for every second of every day and ensures there is enough electricity generated to meet demand as well as resources needed to maintain stringent reliability criteria. In conducting this activity, iso-ne: (i) monitors the flow of electricity into, out of, and over New England's high-voltage transmission system and (ii) schedules hundreds of diverse power resources and transmission components to supply just the right amount of electricity to meet the region's demand and required reserve margin. Iso-ne is responsible for ensuring that the grid can withstand the sudden loss of a power plant or transmission equipment caused by weather, mechanical failure, or other triggers.
Through its second activity, reliability administration, iso-ne ensures the reliable day-to-day operation of the region's high voltage transmission system. Among other activities, this involves: (i) coordinating the operation of the region's more than 350 dispatchable power plants and 9,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines; (ii) managing the movement of high-voltage electricity into, within, and out of New England; (iii) ensuring that the six-state New England region has the power system resources necessary to meet consumer demand for electricity and federally-mandated reliability requirements; (iv) coordinating how transmission lines, generation, and other resources connect to and operate on the power grid reliably; and (v), working with the industry to develop transmission infrastructure solutions that are essential for maintaining power system reliability. During 2023 iso-ne coordinated the generation and transmission of the approximately 114,700 gigawatt-hours of power consumed in the region.