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MA — Power Infrastructure Updated 2026-01-08

Massachusetts

ISO-NE Natural Gas Nuclear Solar Wind Storage Queue Bottlenecks Transmission Constraints

Overview

Massachusetts is building toward a cleaner grid anchored by offshore wind, with two major projects totaling over 3 GW under development. Transmission upgrades are focused on reliability in Greater Boston and the South Coast, where offshore wind will interconnect. Battery storage is growing, led by the region’s largest operating BESS at 150 MW in Carver and a proposed 250 MW system in Medway.

Generation Projects

Natural Gas

Massachusetts is not adding large baseload gas plants.

  • Peabody peaker plant: A new peaker facility in Peabody is preparing to begin operations, providing peak reliability rather than steady baseload power.[1]

Nuclear

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station shut down in 2019 and is now in decommissioning under Holtec. Massachusetts has no operating nuclear reactors and no new nuclear construction in public filings.[2]

Solar

AES operates 251 MW of community solar and distributed generation across Massachusetts, with an additional 68 MW of community solar plus storage projects in development or construction. These are smaller, distributed systems rather than data center-scale generation.[3]

Wind

Massachusetts is pursuing large-scale offshore wind development in federal waters.

  • Vineyard Wind 1: BOEM has permitted an 800 MW offshore wind facility off the Massachusetts coast, currently under construction.[4]
  • SouthCoast Wind: BOEM lists a Construction and Operations Plan for up to 2,400 MW of offshore wind capacity south of Massachusetts in federal waters.[5]

Transmission and Grid

Transmission upgrades in Massachusetts focus on Greater Boston reliability and South Coast interconnection for offshore wind.

  • New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC): A fully permitted transmission line that will deliver 1,200 MW of power imports to the New England grid at Lewiston, Maine, with contracts for Massachusetts load. The project includes 54 miles of new lines and 91 miles of upgrades.[6]
  • Sudbury to Hudson Transmission Reliability Project: Eversource energized a 9-mile, 115-kV line in December 2024 to improve reliability in Greater Boston.[7]
  • Acushnet to Fall River Reliability Project: National Grid is proposing a new 115-kV overhead line in an existing corridor as part of broader upgrades to support offshore wind interconnection in southeastern Massachusetts.[8]

Battery Storage

Massachusetts is deploying utility-scale battery storage, with the region’s largest facility already online.

  • Cranberry Point Energy Storage: Plus Power’s facility in Carver is operating at 150 MW / 300 MWh, currently the largest BESS in New England.[10]
  • Medway Grid BESS: A proposed 250 MW / 500 MWh standalone battery system with a new substation and 345-kV underground interconnection to Eversource’s West Medway station.[9]

Data Center Power Agreements

Massachusetts offshore wind PPAs are utility-led rather than direct tech-company contracts. SouthCoast Wind’s Project 1 was awarded power purchase agreements to deliver 1,287 MW of clean power to Massachusetts and Rhode Island utilities.[11] No public PPAs tied to hyperscalers or data center operators were identified in the sources reviewed.

Interconnection Queue

ISO New England maintains the public interconnection request queue for projects across Massachusetts and the region. ISO-NE and NEPOOL filed changes in June 2024 to move to a first-ready, first-served cluster study process under FERC Order 2023, reflecting backlog and study delays affecting Massachusetts projects.[12][13]

What to Watch

  • SouthCoast Wind permitting timeline: The 2,400 MW project remains in the BOEM Construction and Operations Plan review process.
  • Medway Grid BESS siting decision: The 250 MW / 500 MWh proposal is before the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board.
  • ISO-NE queue reform implementation: The transition to cluster studies will affect how quickly new solar, wind, gas, and storage projects move through interconnection.

Sources

[1] GBH News, “New Peabody ‘peaker’ power plant prepares to go online less green than promised,” 2024-07-05, https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-07-05/new-peabody-peaker-power-plant-prepares-to-go-online-less-green-than-promised (accessed 2026-01-08).

[2] Holtec International, “Pilgrim Decommissioning,” https://holtecinternational.com/company/divisions/hdi/our-fleet/pilgrim/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[3] AES, “AES’ Renewable Community Solar in Massachusetts,” https://www.aes.com/sustainability-impact/people-communities/massachusetts (accessed 2026-01-08).

[4] Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, “Vineyard Wind 1,” updated 2025-12-23, https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/vineyard-wind-1 (accessed 2026-01-08).

[5] Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, “SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind),” https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/southcoast-wind-formerly-mayflower-wind (accessed 2026-01-08).

[6] New England Clean Energy Connect, “About the Project,” https://www.necleanenergyconnect.org/about-the-project (accessed 2026-01-08).

[7] Eversource, “Sudbury to Hudson Transmission Reliability Project,” https://www.eversource.com/residential/about/transmission-distribution/projects/massachusetts-projects/sudbury-to-hudson-project (accessed 2026-01-08).

[8] National Grid, “Acushnet to Fall River Reliability Project,” https://www.southcoastreliabilityprojects.com/Acushnet-FallRiver/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[9] Town of Medway, “Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS),” https://medwayma.gov/departments/community-and-economic-development/battery-energy-storage-systems-bess/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[10] Plus Power (PR Newswire), “New England’s Largest Utility-Scale Battery Energy Storage System Now Online,” 2025-09-10, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-englands-largest-utility-scale-battery-energy-storage-system-now-online-302552534.html (accessed 2026-01-08).

[11] SouthCoast Wind, homepage update noting Project 1 PPAs for 1,287 MW, https://southcoastwind.com (accessed 2026-01-08).

[12] ISO New England, “Interconnection Request Queue,” https://www.iso-ne.com/system-planning/interconnection-service/interconnection-request-queue/ (accessed 2026-01-08).

[13] ISO New England, “ISO-NE, NEPOOL, transmission owners file interconnection process changes with FERC,” 2024-06-06, https://isonewswire.com/2024/06/06/iso-ne-nepool-transmission-owners-file-interconnection-process-changes-with-ferc/ (accessed 2026-01-08).