New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities joined eight Northeast states in issuing a request for information (RFI) seeking interregional transmission project ideas 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 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.
The request for information comes as New Jersey residents are receiving their first electrical bills for the summer that reflect higher costs related to a spike in whole electricity costs. To ease the electricity bill surge, state regulators on June 18 approved a plan by utilities to lessen the cost of electric bills. The deferred bill program would cut $30 from monthly bills for all ratepayers in July and August, when electricity usage from air conditioners is at its peak.
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 Oct. 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 the 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.
